This week in Australian foreign affairs: Marles to attend Shangri-La Dialogue; new assistant minister for foreign affairs; Thistlethwaite responds to China’s trade negotiations with Pacific Islands Nations, and more.
On 29 May, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles announced he will attend the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore from 30 May ‑ 1 June 2025. While there, Marles will meet with “counterparts from across the region and the world to discuss shared challenges and opportunities for closer cooperation.” These will include meetings among the fifteenth Trilateral Defence Ministers Meeting partners, convened by the Deputy Prime Minister, Japanese Minister of Defense, Nakatani Gen, and the United States Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. During the Dialogue, Marles “will address strategic and security issues in the third plenary session on ‘Managing Proliferation Risks in the Asia-Pacific’.” The Shangri-La Dialogue is the region’s pre-eminent security forum and is convened the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Leaders from across the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East are expected to attend “to discuss shared regional security issues and policy responses.”
In leadership changes, Tim Watts has been replaced by Matt Thistlethwaite as the new Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Watts has been assigned as the Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs.
In responding to China’s pledge and promise to help Pacific Island Nations combat Climate Change, while also accelerating negotiations for bilateral trade deals with new market access in China, Thistlethwaite commented on Washington’s distance from the region. “Obviously, the Trump administration’s economic policies have created some uncertainty.” The meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Pacific Leaders took place in Xiamen, China, on Wednesday and Thursday. According to the Financial Times, this was “Wang’s first round of talks with Pacific Island nations since Beijing’s attempt to agree a comprehensive security deal with them failed in May 2022 over fears of creeping military influence.”
Dr Adam Bartley is the managing editor for AIIA’s Australian Outlook and weekly columnist for The Week in Australian Foreign Affairs. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and non-resident fellow at the Elliot School for International Affairs, the George Washington University. Adam also has positions as post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation RMIT University and as program manager of the AI Trilateral Experts Group. He can be found on Twitter here.
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