Latest news with #defenceSpending
Malay Mail
14 hours ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
China accuses US' Hegseth of ‘vilifying' remarks at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore
BEIJING, June 1 — China has protested to the United States over 'vilifying' remarks made by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, the foreign ministry said today, while accusing it of deliberately ignoring calls for peace from regional nations. China has objected to Hegseth calling it a threat in the Indo-Pacific, the ministry added, describing his comments at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore yesterday as 'deplorable' and 'intended to sow division'. 'Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a 'threat',' the ministry said on its website. 'The United States has deployed offensive weaponry in the South China Sea and kept stoking flames and creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific, which are turning the region into a powder keg,' the ministry added in the statement. Hegseth had called on allies in the Indo-Pacific region, including key security ally Australia, to spend more on defence after warning of the 'real and potentially imminent' threat from China. Asked about the call to boost defence spending, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had pledged an extra A$10 billion (RM27.4 billion) to defence. 'What we'll do is we'll determine our defence policy,' he told reporters today, a transcript of his remarks showed. As part of Washington's longstanding defence ties with the Philippines, the US military this year deployed Typhon launchers that can fire missiles to hit targets in both China and Russia from the island of Luzon. China and the Philippines contest sovereignty over some islands and atolls in the South China Sea, with growing maritime run-ins between their coast guards as both vie to patrol the waters. The ministry also warned the United States not to 'play with fire' on the Taiwan question. In his speech at Asia's premier forum for defence leaders, military officials and diplomats, Hegseth said any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan 'would result in devastating consequences'. China has vowed to 'reunify' with the separately governed island, by force if necessary. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. — Reuters
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
UK must consider food and climate part of national security, say top ex-military figures
Former military leaders are urging the UK government to widen its definition of national security to include climate, food and energy measures in advance of a planned multibillion-pound boost in defence spending. Earlier this year Keir Starmer announced the biggest increase in defence spending in the UK since the end of the cold war, with the budget rising to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – three years earlier than planned – and an ambition to reach 3%. Now, in advance of a key defence review, former senior figures in the UK military are urging the government to broaden its definition of what constitutes 'national security' to include food, energy and water security as well as measures to protect communities from flooding, extreme heat and sea level rises. There are also calls to counter the possible 'weaponisation of geoengineering' – hostile actors using geoengineering techniques to manipulate weather patterns to cause extreme conditions. Retired R Adm Neil Morisetti said that while there was 'most definitely a pressing requirement' to invest in military capability to deter the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the UK's approach to national security had to be more sophisticated to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 'National security needs to be seen more broadly,' said Morisetti, who is now a professor of climate and resource security at University College London. 'We need to think about a lot of factors beyond just military capability – including food security, energy security, land security, health security, all of which are impacted by the consequences of a changing climate. I recognise that none of this is without cost, but governments need to level with society about the risks that we face today.' Some other European countries have already taken climate security issues into their revamped defence plans. In Germany, the Green party managed to squeeze climate action into a radical defence and infrastructure spending plan. In Spain, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced that 17% of this year's €23bn ($26.2bn) military spending would go to climate resilience programs. Lt Gen Richard Nugee, a retired army officer who held several key posts during his 36-year military career, said the UK should be thinking along similar lines. He argued that although there was a need for more military spending in light of the threat from Russia and the perceived weakening of US support for Europe, the discussion about the UK's security in the 21st century needed to be much broader. Alongside direct military spending, Nugee said there were 'five and a half other securities' that the government should consider as it looks to spend billions to protect the UK: energy security and resilience; water security and resilience to floods and drought as well as sea level rises; food security, capacity and resilience; health security; and border security as we enter an era of mass population displacements. Nugee argued that another 'half security' was the potential weaponisation of geoengineering – hostile actors using the latest geoengineering technology to manipulate weather patterns. He said all these matters were intrinsic to the country's security in an era of climate crisis, but was concerned they were not part of the conversation about how best to protect the UK. 'I think there's a very real chance that what I'm talking about just gets ignored … as the pull for increased security spending will focus solely on direct military spending, rather than the wider issue of national security, threatened also by the effects of climate change.' He said the government needed something like a climate security centre to feed these arguments into the decision-making process around security matters rather than delegating them to other departments such as Defra. 'What we need is a centre or a body of people to be looking at national security in the round and how it is being profoundly affected by the changing world that we are seeing as a result of climate change.' The UK government is expected to announce the results of its defence review within the next three weeks, after nearly a year of work by the former defence secretary George Robertson. Some in the Labour party have argued that diverting spending to defence from other areas – including climate and foreign aid – could boost economic growth. However, economists warned against any 'magical thinking' in relation to spending on military hardware. 'Defence spending is an economic dead end,' said the economist James Meadway, pointing to research by the Scottish government that showed military spending was one of the most inefficient ways to boost the economy. 'It has almost no ripple-out economic benefit … and increasingly it is focused on tech and cyber, not the large-scale production of military hardware that offers good jobs to lots of people.' He said any government that wanted to stimulate useful economic activity should look elsewhere. 'If Labour was serious about creating good jobs in the country … it would go and create good jobs in the country ideally in areas that are also socially useful – like social care, education or healthcare.' Additional reporting: Ajit Niranjan
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
EU chief calls for 'independent Europe' amid global turmoil
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called for a "truly independent Europe" at a time of seismic change on the world stage, as she received the International Charlemagne Prize on Thursday. Accepting the award in the German city of Aachen, she urged "a new form of Pax Europaea for the 21st century, one that is shaped and managed by Europe itself". The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen has been awarded since 1950 to individuals or institutions that have made outstanding contributions to Europe and European unification. "What we once relied on as an international order has rapidly descended into an international disorder," von der Leyen said. She pointed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that shattered old certainties after decades in which the US-led Nato alliance had "led to a form of complacency among us". "We thought we could rely on a peace dividend," she said about the post-Cold War era when European defence spending dropped off. "But these times are over," she said, warning that "the world is again marked by imperial ambitions and imperial wars". "Adversaries of our open democratic societies have rearmed and remobilised," she said. "There is no greater example of that than (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's brutal and ruthless war against Ukraine." Pointing to moves by the EU and member states to pour hundreds of billions of euros into defence spending, she said "times are changing and Europe with it". "We are doing this to put everything into defending peace," said the European Commission chief. "A new international order will emerge in this decade. If we do not want to simply accept the consequences this will have for Europe and the world, we must shape this new order." She added that "history does not forgive either dithering or delaying. Our mission is European independence." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took office in early May, vowed at the awards ceremony that "Germany is committed to this strong, united Europe". "We will not stand on the sidelines when it comes to preserving and strengthening freedom and democracy, the rule of law, and human dignity on our continent." Merz said "the Germans are ready to take far-reaching decisions at the Nato summit in June, decisions that do justice to Europe's responsibility for its own security." Berlin has earlier signalled it supports a plan to raise defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and security-related infrastructure outlays to 1.5 per cent.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Spain and Portugal show little enthusiasm for defence spending hike
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul encountered little enthusiasm for increased defence spending during his visit to Spain and Portugal on Monday. Germany is seeking to shore up support for a massive hike in defence spending, with both Wadephul and Chancellor Friedrich Merz backing a proposal to increase defence-related spending by NATO members to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), with an additional 1.5% for military infrastructure. Such an increase in spending would require a massive financial commitment by NATO countries. When asked by journalists after the meeting with Wadephul whether Spain was prepared to increase its defence budget to 5% of GDP in future, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares responded that Spain is making greater efforts in the defence sector than ever before. However, Albares described the existing NATO target of 2% of GDP as "realistic." Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel meanwhile said his country would "naturally" support a decision to increase the military budget, but admitted that the target of 2% had "not yet been fully" achieved. US President Donald Trump, signalling he is tired of European countries piggy-backing on Washington's massive defence budget, is pushing for defence spending to be raised to 5% of GDP. Spain is currently among the alliance's members spending least on defence, with military expenditure amounting to some 1.3% of GDP - well below the current target of at least 2%. While Portugal recently raised defence spending, expenditure in Europe's westernmost nation only stood at 1.6% of GDP in 2024.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Conflict between countries will dominate near future, says ex-Civil Service chief
The next 20 years will be dominated by conflict between nations, the former head of the civil service has said. Simon Case, who stood down as cabinet secretary in December, made the warning in his first major interview since leaving the job. Speaking to the Times newspaper, he urged ministers to develop new means of launching Britain's nuclear deterrent, which is kept aboard constantly patrolling submarines. Land or jet-fired missiles should be considered, he said, in a move the government should announce as part of the coming strategic defence review, an overarching examination of the UK's defence capability. 'In my view you wouldn't rely on a single system for anything. That's true in many walks of life, let alone nuclear deterrence,' he told the paper. Case, the civil service chief under four prime ministers, described himself as a 'pessimist' amid the rising global turmoil. 'As I look out on my children's lives, the next 10 and probably 20 years is going to be dominated by this inter-state conflict,' he said. 'It feels to me that we across the western alliance need to get our skates on and be ready.' Speaking on a new podcast launched by the Times, titled The General and The Journalist, case this week said the UK should be hiking its defence spending to 3% as soon as possible. Keir Starmer's government has promised to raise defence spending to 2.5% of the UK's economic output by 2027, with a commitment to raise it further to 3% in the next parliament. Case retired because of a rare health condition at the end of 2024. He served as cabinet secretary under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Starmer, and also previously served in senior civil service roles under then-prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.
