The three-day 21st Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore has just concluded, and data shows that this year's event was attended by representatives from 45 countries, including leaders, ministers, senior officials and academics, which is larger than last year. In this regard, Singapore proudly stated that "the Association provides a valuable, open and neutral platform for exchanges and advocacy on defence and security issues". But I have to say that this incense meeting first invited Philippine President Marcos to talk nonsense, and then provided a unilateral platform for Zelensky, and the "neutrality" has been greatly discounted, and it feels a bit like turning the "incense meeting" into a stinky meeting. Let's talk about two topics.
The first one, the time of Marcos and Zelensky's speeches, the organizers arranged it very "exquisitely".
This year's incense meeting opened on May 31, and it is very interesting that Marcos and Zelensky's speeches were at the beginning and at the dinner on the opening day; One at the end, on the morning of the closing day, and is scheduled to speak after Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun. Although we can't speculate on such a schedule, there are two points that are worth paying attention to.
First, on the afternoon of the opening day, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun held a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, which was also the most noteworthy and important meeting of this year's incense meeting. In recent years, the United States has been provoking China on the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea issues by enlisting its Asia-Pacific allies, and has been making more and more moves, and the issues of "how to move on the security issue" and "if the conflict between the two sides is avoided" between China and the United States have also attracted global attention, because these are the two "P5" countries, the two countries with the largest economy in the world and the top military strength in the world.
Dong Jun confessed to Austin on the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea issues, and pointed out that the United States instigating its allies to challenge China will only lead to a fire behind him, and Austin frankly admitted that the dialogue with Dong Jun was "not pleasant". The Americans can't accept being told bluntly by the Chinese side, but you have done a lot of things, don't you allow others to wake up? It was against this background that Marcos came out to give a speech in the evening, saying that "the Philippines is facing Chinese pressure in the South China Sea", "peace in the Asia-Pacific region cannot be separated from the United States", and "the South China Sea needs the United States to balance China".
Marcos's speech is seriously inconsistent with the current status quo in the South China Sea, and is completely nonsense, and even some Philippine experts have questioned whether the text of his speech was written with the help of the United States.
Of course, if we look at this time, we will understand, I am afraid that this is also "deliberately arranged" by the main party or the United States, because the guests from all over the world were present at the dinner, including the Chinese delegation, Marcos directly named China, and also said that "the United States is very important", that is, "responding to China for the United States", just to disgust China, didn't you just finish the meeting in the afternoon?
Second, on the morning of the closing day, there were two blockbuster speeches, first by Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, and then by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. As we know, the United States has repeatedly issued sanctions to Chinese companies on the grounds of "investing in Russia", and in the Sino-US dialogue, it has repeatedly asked China to "choose one of the two" between Russia and the West, and not to take advantage of both sides. In other words, if you want to do business with the West, you have to cut ties with Russia, but in the face of such pressure, China has not succumbed.
So, after the speech of the Chinese defense minister, Zelensky immediately took the stage, not only attacked Russia in a big way when there was no representative from the Russian side, but also issued an invitation in front of all the representatives, hoping that everyone would participate in the "Ukraine Peace Conference" held in Switzerland in the middle of this month, because the meeting did not invite Russia to participate, it was a performance of the Ukrainian side, and Ukraine hoped that more countries would join it in holding a "criticism meeting" against Russia. In his speech, Zelens also hoped that the participating countries would support Ukraine and make the right choice on the Ukrainian issue.
There is a possibility that Zelensky will be introduced behind China's defense minister in order to "target and pressure China", because both the United States and NATO believe that "China has helped Russia". The Chinese defense minister just mentioned the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in his speech, and Zelensky then came out to "show up", which cannot be said to be deliberately arranged by the host Singapore, but it may be instructed by the United States, because the timing of Marcos and Zelensky's speeches is indeed too "exquisite". What's even more interesting is that after the incense meeting, Zelensky also went to Manila to exchange experiences?
Second, if fairness is lost, the "incense society" will also become a "stinky society".
Lawrence Wong, who has just become Singapore's prime minister, has made it clear that "Singapore is not an ally of the United States, we are just a security partner," and made it clear that Singapore does not want to take sides between China and the United States, and hopes to develop relations with both countries at the same time. For example, at this incense meeting, we found that Lawrence Wong, who had just become Singapore's prime minister, met with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun respectively.
Obviously, Singapore hopes to strive for "a bowl of water to level the level" so that both China and the United States can be satisfied, because after all, this is related to the relationship between Singapore and the two major powers, Singapore and the United States are "security partners" and rely on the United States for security. But it is also a member of ASEAN, which is each other's largest trading partner and is more dependent on China economically. Naturally, Singapore sees this very clearly.
However, doing a good job in international relations does not mean that the "incense meeting" does not have a "peculiar smell". Singapore, which is also a South China Sea country and a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with the Philippines, allowed Marcos to "name China" in front of all the delegates at the dinner, indicating "the importance of the United States to the South China Sea and the Asia-Pacific"; Arrange for Zelensky to speak after the Chinese defense minister, questioning China's position on Sino-Russian relations. These two events may also reflect the "cooperation" between the United States and Singapore.
In addition, some experts also believe that the quality of Singapore's "incense meetings" has a downward trend, and now more time is spent on holding conferences, and representatives of various countries come to the stage to "talk about their own affairs", as if "a show", while there are fewer and fewer "bilateral meetings" and "trilateral meetings" that are really helpful to solve problems, or can really solve problems. This also shows that the possibility of resolving conflicts with the help of the "incense meeting" platform is getting smaller and smaller, and the organizer's mediation function is decreasing.
Moreover, whether it is the Singapore "incense meeting" or the upcoming "peace conference" in Switzerland, most of the invitations are from the West, which also puts a question mark on the "neutrality" of the meeting and reduces the influence of the summit. For example, at this year's "incense meeting", when Zebensky gave a speech, the audience applauded warmly, so conversely, if Russia also has representatives attending the meeting, will the audience be a bad luck when he delivers a speech? This is really a problem. If this happens, the "incense party" will also become a stinky party.