US Secretary of Defence Hegseth arrives in Singapore for Asia summit

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth trained alongside navy personnel on Friday on the USS Boxer in Singapore as he got ready for a weekend of meetings at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Asia’s top defence summit, it draws leaders, diplomats and security officials from around the world.  

Before leaving for the meeting, Hegseth rallied the US military personnel:

"We're going to be sitting in a bunch of meetings today, talking to a lot of ministers of defense. Some of it's going to great, some of it is going to really boring. But it's important to build our alliances with our allies and what we're doing out here. But none of it matters. Literally, none of those meetings matter. They're important, they're significant. Sent here on behalf of the President (Donald Trump). None of it matter without what you do.”

China’s rapid militarisation in the Indo-Pacific and growing concerns of US priorities are expected to top the weekend’s agenda. 

The meeting also comes amid new attacks in the Middle East that threaten the fragile ceasefire. Russia meanwhile is intensifying its war on Ukraine. 

Vietnamese leader To Lam opens the conference Friday with a keynote address.

Hegseth is due to start Saturday’s session with a speech on the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy. It will focus on the military’s “common-sense approach to safeguarding US vital national interests in the Indo-Pacific,” according to the Pentagon.