🇺🇸🇸🇬⚡- "We must ensure that China cannot dominate us, or our allies and partners," - Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, at the SLD 2025.

🇺🇸🇸🇬⚡- "Our goal is to prevent war. And we will do this with a strong shield of deterrence. Peace through strength," - Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, at the SLD 2025.

🇺🇸🇸🇬⚡- "We have shifted our focus to this [Indo-Pacific] region," - Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, at the SLD 2025.

🇺🇸🇸🇬⚡- "Deterrence doesn’t come on the cheap. Just ask the American taxpayer. Time is of the essence. We must step up and move out with urgency," - Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, at the SLD 2025.

🇺🇸🇸🇬⚡- "It’s hard to believe that I am saying this, but Asian allies should look to countries in Europe as a newfound example. NATO members are pledging to spend 5% of their GDP on defense, even Germany. So it doesn’t make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend even less in the face of an even more formidable [Chinese] threat," - Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, at the SLD 2025.

🇺🇸🇸🇬⚡- "We are preparing for war in order to deter war. To achieve peace through strength. The threats we face will not wait, and nor will we wait," - Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, at the SLD 2025.

End of speech by Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

🇮🇳🇸🇬⚡- BREAKING: "The number isn’t important, but the reason they were downed is important," - Anil Chauhan, India's Chief of Staff, confirms the loss of fighter jets during the clashes with Pakistan, at the SLD 2025.

🇮🇳🇸🇬⚡- "When we gained independence, Pakistan was ahead of in all metrics. Today, we are ahead on all fronts," - Anil Chauhan, India's Chief of Staff, at the SLD 2025.

🇪🇺🇸🇬⚡- "The EU's relationship with the US was not broken," - Kaja Kallas, EU's Foreign Policy Chief, at the SLD 2025.

🇪🇺🇸🇬⚡- "You heard his [Hegseth] speech. He was actually quite positive about Europe, so there's definitely some love there," - Kaja Kallas, EU's Foreign Policy Chief, at the SLD 2025.

🇪🇺🇸🇬⚡- "The European Union has shifted gear and reimagined our own paradigm as a peace project backed up with hard defence," - Kaja Kallas, EU's Foreign Policy Chief, at the SLD 2025.

🇪🇺🇸🇬⚡- "The security of Europe and the security of the Pacific is very much interlinked," - Kaja Kallas, EU's Foreign Policy Chief, at the SLD 2025.

🇪🇺🇸🇬⚡- "North Korean soldiers are already operating and China is providing military hardware to Russia," - Kaja Kallas, EU's Foreign Policy Chief, at the SLD 2025.

🇪🇺🇸🇬⚡- "I think again, if you are worried about China, you should be worried about Russia," - Kaja Kallas, EU's Foreign Policy Chief, takes a slight jab at Pete Hegseth, at the SLD 2025.

End of speech by Kaja Kallas at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

🇨🇳🇸🇬⚡- "We came here hoping for a constructive dialogue," - Hu Gangfeng, China's head of delegation at the SLD 2025.

Gangfeng will present his speech later today.

🇨🇳🇵🇭⚡- BREAKING: China announces 'combat readiness' exercises at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, South China Sea.

China Coast Guard has announced increased "law enforcement patrols" in the water spaces of Scarborough, which has seen a surge of activity from the Philippines and even the US recently.

🇨🇳⚡- There are currently nine Chinese Coast Guard vessels operating in the South China Sea, mainly around Scarborough, Second Thomas, Subi, and Seahorse Breakers - all off the coast of the Philippines and Malaysia.

🇨🇳🇸🇬⚡- "Compared with the Joe Biden administration's Indo-Pacific strategy, there is more continuity than change, with the only notable change being a stronger push for allies and partners to share the burden of this policy," - Da Wei, Director of China's International Security and Strategy Center, at the SLD 2025.

🇨🇳🇸🇬⚡- "They want the Indo-Pacific countries to increase defense budgets to 5%, like Europe. Are Asia-Pacific countries willing to do this? Is it even realistic? Given all the ongoing economic and trade disputes between the US and countries in the region, is it feasible for Washington to now demand defense alignment?" - Da Wei, Director of China's International Security and Strategy Center, at the SLD 2025.

🇨🇳🇸🇬⚡- "Washington urges China to respect its neighbors, yet they often fails to respect its own, including Canada and Panama," - Da Wei, Director of China's International Security and Strategy Center, at the SLD 2025.