News Snapshot:
Southeast Asian nations have taken “some comfort” from the first ever in-person meeting between the incumbent US and China defence ministers this weekend on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, the forum’s host Singapore said on Sunday. Friday’s talks between China’s Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin had been highly anticipated in the region, amid anxiety from small nations about being caught in the middle of growing antagonism between the superpowers. The hour-long talks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue was their first face-to-face meeting, and a Chinese readout described it as “candid and constructive”. Both...
