Europe-US power struggle in Asia-Pacific

The annual Shangri-La Dialogue that Singapore hosts is a gathering of security and defence experts of south, south-east and east-Asia, along with the United States, European Union countries and China. It is a meeting point where new worldviews are enunciated if not new spheres of influence are carved out.

At this year’s Shangri-La, China stepped back as it were. There can only be speculation why it did so. India and Pakistan delegations represented by highest military personnel were present, avoiding running into each other in the corridors of the hotel.

It was the Americans and the Europeans who seemed to have crossed swords at the conference. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has spelt the American position with regard to European powers. He said, “We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent...so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we’re able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation to support our partners here.”

In plain language, Hegseth is saying that Europe has no place in the Indo-Pacific, even if it had in the earlier period colonialism in the 19h and early 20th centuries. Americans believe that they are victors in the Second World War in the Asian region, and therefore they have the right to assert Asia-Pacific to be its sphere of influence. It is blunt language indeed, characteristic of the Trump Administration.

Surprisingly, Hegseth says that the American commitment in Europe will continue, and the Americans will continue to support the European countries. This is in contrast to the rhetoric of President Donald Trump that Europe must take care of itself, and America is not interested in leading NATO.

Trump has been flip-flopping quite a lot, about tariffs and about security commitments. Unable to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, Trump feels that America has no option but to oppose Russia in Europe.

The European counter to Hegseth formulation was ready. Kaja Kallas, the Estonian politician and European Union’s High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, said, “It is a good thing we are doing more (in Europe), but what I want to stress is that the security of Europe and the security of the Pacific is very much interlinked.” She went on to say, “If you are worried about China, you should be worried about Russia.”

French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that France remains an Indo-Pacific power. He referred to the French presence in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, and the 8,000 French soldiers in the region.

Macron gave a political twist to the China factor, by countering the American approach of gathering all anti-China forces of the Indo-Pacific region. He said, “We are neither China nor the US., we don’t want to depend on either of them. We want to cooperate with both as far as we can, and we can cooperate for growth and prosperity and stability for our people and the world order, and I think this is exactly the same view of a lot of countries and a lot of people of this region.” It is not surprising that the Americans are not comfortable with the European presence in the Indo-Pacific region. But the Europeans see both economic and defence opportunities in Asia.

An International Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS) of London in its report noted, “European companies including Airbus, Damen, Naval Group and Thales have a long-standing presence in Southeast Asia, and other European actors have established themselves in the market in the last decade, including Italy’s Fincantieri and Sweden’s Saab.” There is competition now between Europe and America. China can watch the contest with amusement.