US defence secretary: Nasty to Europe, nice to Asia, naughty to Singapore?

Hegseth's keynote speech today comes highly anticipated

- Lin Suling

Singapore skies have stayed unusually rainy this week, offering an unexpected reprieve from the typical mid-year scorching weather.

And so, 2025's Shangri-La Dialogue unfolds under a calming canopy of clouds, much to the relief of delegates otherwise unaccustomed to the Asian heat and humidity.

European government officials who attend each year in steadily larger droves may hope the metaphor extends into the geopolitical.

For some, it is a chance to mend the transatlantic rift laid bare months ago after a blistering Munich Security Conference lecture by US Vice-President J.D. Vance, followed by US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth's expressed distaste for "pathetic" European "freeloading" in a leaked Signal chat.

A face-to-face meeting could smooth rough edges.

The Europeans are under no illusion that Europe has been pushed down Washington's pecking order, after Mr Hegseth excoriated Nato countries in February for "an imbalanced relationship" and pushed them to assume primary responsibility for Europe's conventional defences.

Still, they need the US to remain engaged in efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, after repeated failed overtures by President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin fanned concerns over American fatigue.

Besides, the Europeans, too, have ambitions to play a larger role here, with German, French and Italian carrier strike groups sailing through this region this past year and projecting naval power.

But their objective may be more export promotion than security-oriented. European policymakers hope to turn their defence industry into a growth engine, powered not just by hikes in European defence spending but also a growing global clientele list.

And Asia already imports more than a third of the world's arms.

France — the second-largest exporter of arms in the world after the US — is best placed to reap the fruits.