Li Shangfu, who was named to his position in March, was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue here. The event, organized by the International Institute of Strategic Studies – Asia, takes place annually on the first weekend of June.

During the question-and-answer session after his speech, Li was asked about the new report and video of a People’s Liberation Army Navy warship cutting across the bow of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Chung-hoon.

The footage was shot by a Canadian news crew who witnessed the event from a Canadian frigate accompanying the American destroyer as they transited through international waters along the Taiwan Strait on June 3

The maneuver was described at the dialogue by Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund, as “in contravention of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.”

However, Li said that the Canadian-U.S. voyage cannot be considered “innocent passage,” but was instead provocation. He questioned why foreign jets and naval vessels were operating so close to China and said foreign militaries should “mind your own business” closer to home.

The encounter at sea came eight days after the U.S. Department of Defense released video of a Chinese J-16 multirole fighter conducting what DoD called an “unprofessional” intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea by cutting across the latter’s flightpath.

The maneuver is known as “thumping,” in reference to the interceptor using its jetwash to temporarily disrupt the flight of the aircraft being intercepted with its wake turbulence.

Li declined to directly answer questions from delegates about the performance of the Russian military and equipment during the invasion of Ukraine, saying his recent focus has been on military diplomacy and that he has not been following the conflict from a combat standpoint.

Li used his speech to highlight China’s contributions to global security, such as its sending of peacekeepers to seven different conflict zones under the auspices of the United Nations and 139 naval vessels in 44 separate deployments for anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.

He also commented on Taiwan issue, reiterating that the matter is an internal Chinese affair and accusing Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of undermining regional stability by pushing for “incremental independence.”

Li criticized “some big power,” a reference to the United States, for repeatedly selling arms and providing military training assistance to the self-ruling island. He said China will not rule out using force to reunify Taiwan with the mainland.

Lloyd Austin was speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit here. The event convenes defense ministers from the Indo-Pacific and around the world to discuss and enhance security in the region and is organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies – Asia or IISS-Asia.

“The United States believes that open lines of communication with the People’s Republic of China are essential, especially between our defense and military leaders,” Austin said.

He added that dialogue between both nations is an important guardrail to preserve regional peace and stability, particularly in the Taiwan Strait, and will help to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations that may lead to crisis or conflict.

“The right time to talk is now,” Austin added.

Chinese defense and military officials have stopped contacts and engagements with their American counterparts, culminating in a refusal by Chinese defense minister Li Shengfu to meet with Austin while they are both in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue.

“A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for substantive engagement,” Austin said, referring to the lack of a formal bilateral dinner despite him shaking hands with Li prior to the dialogue’s opening dinner and keynote speech on Friday.

Asked about accusations that the U.S. is trying to provoke China into invading Taiwan, Austin denied the charge.

He had said earlier in his speech “the United States remain deeply committed to preserving the status quo in the [Taiwan] strait, consistent with our one-China policy and fulfilling our well-established obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act.”

“We do not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will not flinch in the face of bullying and coercion,” Austin added.

U.S. engagement with regional allies and partners was also a key focus for Austin, as he highlighted recent DoD efforts to expand its interactions with militaries in the Indo-Pacific.

This included the April announcement that the U.S. military will expand its footprint in the Philippines under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Arrangement, which will see four of the US ally’s facilities upgraded and made available to US forces.

Austin also touched on the upcoming Talisman Sabre exercise in Australia, which will take place this summer. This year’s iteration will involve 14 countries and approximately 30,000 personnel, including a “significant contingent” from Japan.

The exercise has scaled up significantly in recent years; it was until recently primarily a bilateral event involving Australia and the U.S.

Austin praised recent moves by Japan and South Korea to improve ties. The U.S. allies have recently taken steps to thaw frosty relations dating back to Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula that only ended with its surrender following World War II.

The 12 F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing aircraft were practicing the Corps’ concept known as “Expeditionary Advanced Basing Operations” at RAAF Base Curtin, according to Lt. Col. Richard Behrmann, an operations officer at Marine Aircraft Group 12 based in Iwakuni, Japan.

The F-35Bs have been deployed to RAAF Base Tindal, 600 miles away from Curtin, since mid-August for “robust” unit-level training ahead of Pitch Black, a military exercise involving more than 2,500 personnel and aircraft from 10 nations.

Behrmann told Defense News on Friday that the EABO training in Australia was a culmination of several MAG-12 events meant to refine the concept. One of those events included using Tindal as a hub and Curtin as a spoke in order to mirror EABO’s hub-and-spoke model, with the officer calling it the unit’s most “robust and in-depth” exercise of the concept.

EABO envisages the Marines being able to deploy mobile, easily sustainable expeditionary forces to austere, temporary locations in or near contested areas to conduct missions such as sea denial or sea control.

RAAF Base Curtin, which locals call a front-line “bare base,” has a 10,000-foot runway, aircraft shelters and other infrastructure, which are normally crewed and maintained by a small caretaker staff, unless activated for use during exercises or a crisis.

The 12 F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack squadrons 121 and 242 are also Down Under to drill with other MAG-12 subordinate units — Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12.

A pair of Japan-based Marine Corps KC-130J Super Hercules tankers, which also performed transport tasks and rapid ground refueling, supported the F-35Bs during the EABO training.

The U.S. air and ground elements that deployed to Australia included some 150 fighter squadron personnel and 60 members from support units who mirrored the Marine Corps’ air-ground task force concept, which seeks to provide multidomain capabilities

Behrmann also said the F-35s deployed to Australia with the Autonomic Logistics Information System, which is used for predictive maintenance of the aircraft. He noted that Marines used a very small aperture terminal — essentially a ground station with a satellite dish — to transmit data for ALIS.

MAG-12 also put into place a so-called PACE plan — primary, alternate, contingency and emergency — that allowed the force to transmit data and voice communications between Iwakuni, Tindal and Curtin using high-frequency radio during the EABO exercise.

Behrmann noted that out of the F-35Bs and other supporting platforms, only one aircraft dropped out of an assigned sortie during the preceding three weeks of the deployment.

During Pitch Black, which runs Aug. 19-Sept. 8, American F-35Bs and Australian F-35As flew air-to-air and air-to-ground missions during the day and night as part of large-force employment operations with a variety of aircraft from other partner nations, including F-15, F-16 and Su-30 fighters.

Behrmann said these exercises enhance interoperability and integration capabilities with allied and partner nations in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, adding that a large airspace was set aside for the drills.

The Marine Corps’ F-35Bs took part in midair refueling with multirole tanker/transport aircraft from Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. And the Corps’ KC-130J tankers refueled British Eurofighter Typhoon fighters.

This year’s Pitch Black has also served as an opportunity for partner nations to observe the F-35B up close and in action, with the Marine Corps hosting delegations from partner nations, including one from Singapore’s next-generation fighter project office.

Singapore has selected the F-35B as its next-gen fighter, and the U.S. State Department has already cleared the sale for an initial four aircraft with an option to buy eight more. Initial deliveries are expected to begin in 2026.

A Royal Australian Air Force website said Pitch Black involves 17 nations: Australia, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, the U.K., the Philippines, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, New Zealand and the U.S.

Speaking during an unprecedented address delivered via video link at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Zelenskyy said the world must push for diplomatic solutions to support countries that are in need of help.

“We must not leave them behind at the mercy of another country which is more powerful in financial terms, in territorial terms and in terms of equipment,” he said in response to a question about what Taiwan can do in the face of military and political pressure from China. “No one benefits from [open conflict}, apart from certain political leaders, who are not content with the present level of their ambitions. Therefore, they keep growing their appetites and their ambitions.”

Zelenskyy also spoke of the importance of international law for smaller states, quoting the words of Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew: “If there had been no international law, and the big fish ate the small fish and the small fish ate shrimps, we would not have existed.”

Zelenskyy cited the late leader while accusing the Russian leadership under President Vladimir Putin of striving to dismantle international law by invading Ukraine. The Kremlin seeks to make it “impossible for a neighboring country, which it regards solely as its colony, to be able to exist freely and independently,” he said.

He charged Russians with systematically looting the resources of occupied Ukrainian territory by stripping it of everything from industrial machinery to crops and cars, and he blamed global food insecurity on Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

The blockade has left Ukraine unable to export its grain harvest, and Zelenskyy warned the world will potentially face an acute food crisis and famine in many Asian and African countries, possibly leading to political chaos.

Wednesday’s launch, the North’s first known weapons test in about two months, indicates that the country will press ahead with plans to build powerful, sophisticated missiles rather than returning to disarmament talks anytime soon.

The missile test was picked up by South Korea, Japan and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The Japanese Defense Ministry’s initial assessment suggested the missile flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles) into the Sea of Japan, which is known to both Koreas as the East Sea.

Photos of the missile launch confirmed North Korea fired a conical-shaped maneuvering reentry vehicle propelled by a liquid-fuel booster. The missile was mounted and fired from a wheeled launcher modified from a Russian MAZ-543 truck.

The booster section appears to be similar to that shown by North Korea at last October’s arms expo that was attended by its supreme leader, Kim Jong Un.

This appears to be a shortened version of the booster for the Hwasong-12 ballistic missile, with North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reporting that the weapon flew 700 kilometers after performing evasive maneuvers.

This would likely account for the discrepancy in assessed range if the hypersonic glider’s separation happened at low altitude and was not picked up by Japanese sensors.

North Korea’s National Defense Science Academy also released a statement on the missile test, saying the hypersonic glide vehicle performed lateral maneuvers over 120 kilometers.

It also said the test verifies the performance of the engine ampulization under wintery conditions, continuing a previous test of rocket engine ampulization carried out by North Korea in September 2021. (It wasn’t immediately known if the weapon tested in September was the exact same type of hypersonic missile tested this month.)

“The successive successes in the test launches in the hypersonic missile sector have strategic significance in that they hasten a task for modernizing strategic armed force of the state,” a KCNA dispatch said. The word “strategic” implies the missile is being developed to deliver nuclear weapons.

If successful, it would mean North Korea is able to fuel the missiles in a factory, seal them hermetically in canisters, and store them so that they can be quickly moved and launched, negating the need to fuel missiles in the open, which would leave them vulnerable to detection and attack.

Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability. It’s unclear whether and how soon North Korea could manufacture such a high-tech missile, but it was among a wish list of sophisticated military assets that Kim disclosed early last year, along with a multi-warhead missiles, spy satellites, solid-fueled long-range missiles and underwater-launched nuclear missiles.

U.S.-led diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear program remains stalled since 2019 due to disputes over international sanctions on the North. The Biden administration has repeatedly called for resuming the nuclear diplomacy “anywhere and at any time” without preconditions, but North Korea has argued the U.S. must first withdraw its hostility against it before any talks can restart.

During last week’s plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party, Kim repeated his vow to expand his country’s military capabilities without publicly presenting any new positions on Washington and Seoul.

Hyung-Jin Kim with The Associated Press contributed to this report from Seoul, South Korea.

MELBOURNE, Australia, and WASHINGTON — China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than U.S. officials predicted a year ago, highlighting a broad and accelerating buildup of military muscle designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass U.S. global power by midcentury, according to a Pentagon report released Wednesday.

The Defense Department’s 2021 report, commonly referred to as the “China Military Power Report,” said that “the accelerating pace” of China’s nuclear expansion “may enable” it to have “up to 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027,″ and that China “likely intends to have at least 1,000 warheads by 2030″.

The United States, by comparison, has 3,750 nuclear weapons and has no plans to increase that number. As recently as 2003, the U.S. total was about 10,000. The Biden administration is undertaking a comprehensive review of its nuclear policy and has not said how that might be influenced by its China concerns.

The report does not suggest open conflict with China but it fits an emerging U.S. narrative of a People’s Liberation Army intent on challenging the United States in all domains of warfare — air, land, sea, space and cyberspace. Against that backdrop, U.S. defense officials have said they are increasingly wary of China’s intentions with regard to the status of Taiwan.

“The PLA’s evolving capabilities and concepts continue to strengthen [China’s] ability to ‘fight and win wars’ against a ‘strong enemy’ — a likely euphemism for the United States,” the report said, adding that it makes China more capable of coercing Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its territory.

Wednesday’s report is the latest reminder to Congress, already leery of Beijing’s military ambitions, that the Pentagon’s frequent promises to focus more intently on countering China have moved only incrementally beyond the talking stage. The Biden administration is expected to take a new step by following through on its announcement in September of plans to increase the U.S. military presence in Australia, in addition to a controversial decision to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Nuclear triad

The report also flagged the possibility of China having already established a nascent “nuclear triad” with the development of a nuclear capable air-launched ballistic missile and improvements to its land- and sea-based nuclear capabilities.

The Pentagon report was based on information collected through December 2020 and so does not reflect or mention Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley’s expression of concern last month about Chinese hypersonic weapon tests over the summer that he said came as a troublesome surprise. Wednesday’s report only referred to the widely known fact that China had fielded the DF-17 medium-range ballistic missile, equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle designed to evade American missile defenses.

In remarks shortly before the report’s release Wednesday, Milley told the Aspen Security Forum that the hypersonic missile test and other Chinese advances are evidence of what is at stake for the world. “We are witnessing one of the largest shifts in global and geostrategic power that the world has witnessed,” he said.

The airborne launch platform of this Chinese triad is the Xi’an H-6N bomber, a derivative of the H-6K that is optimized for long-range strikes and features a modified fuselage that allows it to externally carry an air-launched ballistic missile that maybe nuclear-capable.

The H-6N also possesses air-to-air refueling capability, the first variant of the type able to do so and thereby providing it greater range compared to other Chinese bombers. The report assesses that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force has operationally fielded the H-6N bomber as of 2020 and is “very likely” to be “developing tactics and procedures to conduct the PLAAF nuclear mission.”

China’s main nuclear delivery system is still the growing force of ballistic missiles in its arsenal that are capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. The Pentagon report said China has “commenced building at least three solid-fueled [intercontinental ballistic missiles] silo fields, which will cumulatively contain hundreds of new ICBM silos” — echoing earlier news reports based on open-source satellite imagery

The Pentagon report also said sources indicate a new long-range DF-27 ballistic missile with an officially stated range of 5,000-8,000 kilometers (3,100-5,000 miles) is under development. However, it is unclear if this is referring to the Chinese “intercontinental” glider system that was previously reported.

The naval leg of China’s triad is also advancing, with the report noting that development of the Type 096-class ballistic missile submarine is continuing, and that when it is commissioned, the class is expected to serve alongside six older Type 094s.

The ballistic missile submarine fleet is expected to reach eight boats by 2030 with the Type 096 in service. The submarine will be equipped with JL-3 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which would enable China to target the U.S. mainland with nuclear strikes from within China’s littoral waters.

These ballistic missiles will receive up-to-date targeting information from China’s growing fleet of reconnaissance and remote sensing satellites, that is estimated to number around 200, up from “more than 80″ in last year’s report.

However, anti-submarine warfare in open waters remains an Achilles’ heel for the Chinese military. The report acknowledged that China is aware of this shortfall and is improving its anti-sub warfare capabilities and training to better protect its aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines even as its naval force is projected to reach 460 ships by 2030.

The basis of the Pentagon’s prediction that China will vastly increase its nuclear arsenal is not spelled out in Wednesday’s report. A senior defense official who briefed reporters in advance of the report’s public release, and thus spoke on condition of anonymity, said the forecast reflects several known developments, such as China’s addition of a nuclear bomber capability, as well as public statements in Chinese official media that have made reference to China needing 1,000 nuclear weapons.

This comes as China has demonstrated a pair of its land-based J-20 stealth fighters powered by indigenous engines at the ongoing Zhuhai airshow.

Speaking at a press conference at the airshow, Sun Cong, the chief designer of the mainstay jet fighter of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, carrier air wings, said that “people should be able to see good news on the next-generation aircraft carrier-based fighter jet” later this year.

Sun led the design of the Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark. He said more will be revealed about the new program when the time is right, according to remarks carried by the nationalist tabloid Global Times.

Similarly, state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, said on its account on Chinese social media app Weibo that a new carrier-borne aircraft would be revealed before the end of 2021, although it is not clear if it was making its own announcement or just echoing Sun’s remarks.

Neither Sun nor AVIC revealed more details about the program, although the social media post included a graphic showing what appeared to be a stealthy twin-tailed design under wraps.

It has been speculated in recent years that China is developing a new carrier-based fighter jet based on the Shenyang J-31 as the next-generation combat aircraft to equip China’s growing fleet of aircraft carriers.

China has two carriers in service and is building a third, significantly larger carrier. The first two ships are equipped with a ski-jump to assist aircraft in taking off, while the latest vessel being constructed in Shanghai will be equipped with catapults to launch heavier aircraft and conduct operations more quickly.

The J-31 is a twin-tailed, twin-engine, mid-wing design that incorporates some low-observable features and bears a passing resemblance to the Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. It first flew in October 2012 and was present at the 2014 Zhuhai airshow.

Originally a private venture designed for the export market, the type found no takers among the group of countries that sought Chinese arms, however the design underwent a substantial rework and started flying again in 2016.

Like the J-15, the J-31 has so far only flown with imported Russian engines, although China has since made strides in its ongoing efforts to refine its own indigenous combat aircraft engine development efforts.

This is underscored by the stealthy Chengdu J-20 fighter powered by indigenous engines making its debut at this year’s Zhuhai airshow, with a pair of aircraft powered by WS-10C engines taking part in the daily flying display.

Both jets carried People’s Liberation Army Air Force, or PLAAF, national insignia, although neither carried five-digit PLAAF serial numbers.

These aircraft will join the increasing number of twin-engined Shenyang J-11s and J-16s, powered by the indigenous WS-10 since around 2011 or 2012. The single-engine Chengdu J-10, powered by the WS-10, has also started entering service with PLAAF units, replacing the Russian AL-31 turbofan engine after a protracted development cycle.

However, production examples of the carrier-borne J-15, which like the J-11 and J-16 have roots in the Russian Sukhoi Su-27/30 Flanker family of multirole fighter jets, continue to be powered by the Russian engine.

MELBOURNE, Australia — U.S. Marine Corps F-35B jets are carrying out high-end integrated air warfare training with Australian counterparts in the skies above the country and the Coral Sea, as both nations hold a massive multidomain exercise.

The F-35Bs have not previously participated in the exercise Talisman Sabre, which is held once every two years. This year’s exercise saw Canada, Japan and South Korea each send a ship to participate, while Japan and the United Kingdom each sent a small contingent of ground troops, joining forces from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Defense News took part in a virtual media roundtable with senior U.S. Navy and Marine Corps leaders taking part in the exercise onboard the helicopter assault ship America on Wednesday, during which they provided details on the drills.

The air combat element onboard the America included F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing jets from Japan-based Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, which operated alongside the Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tilt rotors and helicopters of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265.

According to Rear Adm. Chris Engdahl, who commands the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group 7, the ability of the F-35B to integrate with the Royal Australian Air Force F-35A and other assets, such as Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, during high-end air combat training “has just been spectacular.”

Echoing those sentiments, the commander of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Col. Michael Nakonieczny, called the F-35Bs “fantastic and versatile,” although the commanders declined to go into specifics about what missions the F-35Bs undertook or if they trained for expeditionary advanced base operations. Engdahl would only say on the topic that the Marines will exercise “every capability the Marine Corps team has” at Talisman Sabre.

Expeditionary advanced base operations allow forces to operate from advanced austere bases, and is one of the key concepts to the Corps’ plan to operate in a distributed manner across vast distances — an important requirement in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australia has a number of “bare bases” in the north — a vast territory hosting bunkers and aircraft shelters with the ability to support aircraft operations at short notice. Those structures are normally manned by a handful of caretakers, with one of these, RAAF Base Scherger near Weipa, activated for the exercise for the forward deployment of Australian aircraft.

The naval ship America also did not previously participate in Talisman Sabre drills, with prior versions involving Wasp-class landing helicopter docks as the so-called big deck supporting the amphibious phase of the exercise.

The America arrived in Japan in 2019, replacing the amphibious assault ship Wasp as the forward-deployed big deck in the Indo-Pacific region. The America class differs from the Wasp class in that the former has no well dock for the berthing and operations of landing craft, and instead has expanded aviation facilities to support a larger number of aircraft.

The commodore of Amphibious Squadron 11, Capt. Greg Baker, told reporters at the roundtable that the lack of a well dock onboard the America was “a blessing and a curse,” adding that the ship’s capabilities provided an opportunity to learn how to operate with lower surface lift capacity but increased air capacity.

Agreeing, Engdahl said the class of ship brings a wide variety of additional options.

“We can do so much more: more dynamic lift, more movement and envelopment with this platform,” Engdahl said, with the ability of the helicopters and tilt rotors onboard to deliver Marines farther and faster.

Lloyd Austin was speaking Tuesday in Singapore at the 40th Fullerton Lecture, organized by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, when he outlined his vision of “integrated deterrence.”

That effort, he said, involves working with partners to deter coercion and aggression across the spectrum of conflict, including in the so-called gray zone that falls below the threshold of an all-out war.

The U.S. should use “every military and nonmilitary tool in our toolbox, in lockstep with our allies and partners. Integrated deterrence is about using existing capabilities and building new ones, and deploying them all in new and networked ways,” he added, “all tailored to a region’s security landscape and in growing partnership with our friends.”

“We’re aiming to coordinate better, to network tighter and to innovate faster. And we’re working to ensure that our allies and partners have the capabilities, the capacities and the information that they need,” he noted.

The Pentagon chief cited American efforts to improve interoperability with regional allies, pointing to a recent large-scale exercise in Japan that culminated with the first-ever firing of a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System on Japanese soil.

Austin also mentioned the exercises Pacific Vanguard as well as Talisman Sabre off Australia, which involved the United States, Japan, Australia and South Korea carrying out “integrated, high-end maritime operations.” He also touched on Singapore’s acquisition of the Lockheed Martin-made F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, which he says will “boost our collective capabilities and open up new opportunities for high-end, combined training.”

Austin specifically mentioned China as an assertive actor in the region, saying that “Beijing’s claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea has no basis in international law” and treads on the sovereignty of other states. He reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to its treaty with Japan over the Asian nation’s claim to the Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China, and to its partnership with the Philippines, which also has competing claims in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, Austin said, the U.S. is “working with Taiwan to enhance its own capabilities and to increase its readiness to deter threats and coercion … upholding our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act.”

He also attacked China’s “unwillingness to resolve disputes peacefully and respect the rule of law” across all domains, accusing the country of having undertaken “aggression against India, destabilizing military activity and other forms of coercion against the people of Taiwan, and genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.”

On the coronavirus pandemic, the defense secretary said the U.S. “has been rushing urgently needed assistance across the Indo-Pacific” that includes testing equipment, oxygen supplies, personal protective equipment, ventilators and storage for vaccines.

He also outlined the Biden administration’s donation of vaccines to countries in the region, noting that Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam have received 40 million doses of vaccines from the U.S. and that President Joe Biden is committed to delivering 500 million more doses worldwide over the next year. Austin stressed that the vaccines were delivered free, with “no conditions, no small print and no strings attached.”

Following his visit to Singapore, Austin’s itinerary will next take him to Vietnam and the Philippines.

SEOUL, South Korea, and MELBOURNE, Australia — North Korea displayed new submarine-launched ballistic missiles under development and other military hardware in a parade that underlined leader Kim Jong Un’s defiant calls to expand the country’s nuclear weapons program.

Kim presided over Thursday’s parade, which took place at night under powerful floodlights, the second time the country has done so. State media said he took center stage at the parade celebrating a major ruling party meeting in which he vowed maximum efforts to bolster the nuclear and missile program that threatens Asian rivals and the American homeland to counter what he described as U.S. hostility.

During an eight-day Workers’ Party congress that ended Tuesday, Kim also revealed plans to salvage the nation’s economy, hit by U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear ambitions, pandemic-related border closures and natural disasters that wiped out crops.

The economic setbacks have left Kim with nothing to show for his ambitious diplomacy with President Donald Trump, which derailed over disagreements about sanctions relief in exchange for North Korean denuclearization steps, and pushed Kim to what is clearly the toughest moment of his nine-year rule.

Kim’s comments are likely intended to pressure the incoming U.S. government of Joe Biden, who has previously called the North Korean leader a “thug” and accused Trump of chasing spectacle rather than meaningful curbs on the North’s nuclear capabilities. Kim has not ruled out talks, but said the fate of bilateral relations depends on whether Washington abandons its hostile policy toward North Korea.

What was on display?

The parade featured the debut of a number weapons systems, primarily a number of what appears to be a new two-stage submarine-launched ballistic missile. Markings painted on the missile at the parade indicate that this new weapon is called the Pugguksong-5 and has a distinctly different warhead section from the Pugguksong-3 tested by North Korea in 2019 and the Pugguksong-4 displayed at the massive October 2020 parade.

Another notable debutant at the parade was a road-mobile, solid-fuel, short-range ballistic missile, or SRBM. The as-yet unnamed system mounted a pair of missiles on a wheeled five-axle transporter-erector-launcher, or TEL, and appeared to be a larger version of the KN-24 SRBM previously unveiled.

The new missile is also longer than the North Korean KN-23 SRBM, whose design is outwardly similar to the Russian Iskander missile. The KN-23 has been tested up to a range of 430 miles, and is also mounted in pairs, albeit on a shorter, four-axle version of the new missile’s TEL.

This North Korean parade was also notable for the missiles systems that did not make an appearance, which include the longer-ranged intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles that were present at earlier parades.

North Korean state TV on Friday aired edited footage of the parade, showing thousands of civilians and troops roaring and fireworks exploding overhead as Kim stepped out of a building and took his spot at a podium in Kim Il Sung Square, named after his grandfather and the country’s founder.

Kim, wearing a black fur hat and leather trench coat, waved and smiled widely as his troops chanted “Let’s defend Kim Jong Un with our lives!” and “Protect with our lives the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee led by Great Comrade Kim Jong Un!”

Reports and video from state media suggested that Kim did not make a speech during the parade.

His defense minister, Kim Jong Gwan, said in a speech that North Korea’s military would “preemptively marshal our greatest might to thoroughly punish hostiles forces” if they threaten the North’s safety.

Military aircraft flew in formation across the dark sky, using what appeared to be flares to form the symbol of the Workers’ Party — a hammer, brush and sickle.

What does the parade represent?

North Korea has been developing submarine-launched ballistic missile systems for years. Acquiring an operational system would alarm its rivals and neighbors because missiles fired from under water are harder to detect in advance.

Still, Kim Dong-yub, an analyst at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies and a former military official who participated in inter-Korean military talks, said the North’s presumably new submarine-launched missiles could possibly be engineering mockups that require further development before they are ready to be tested and deployed.

While Kim Jong Un vowed during the congress to develop nuclear-powered submarines capable of firing nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, it would take “considerable time” for North Korea to overcome financial and technological difficulties and produce such systems, the analyst said.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the way North Korea featured the submarine-launched missiles in the parade suggests that a test related to them could be North Korea’s first provocation for the Biden administration.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it is studying the weapons displayed by North Korea but didn’t immediately release a detailed assessment.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Tokyo is monitoring North Korean missile developments with “great concern.”

The move toward the development of tactical nuclear weapons by North Korea was not surprising, according to Ankit Panda, the Stanton senior fellow with the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, although he cautioned the country might resume nuclear testing.

Any such move would almost certainly attract international condemnation and could plunge the Korean Peninsula into a new crisis. North Korea previously offered a moratorium on ICBMs and nuclear testing in 2018. It has since said it is no longer bound by this unilateral decision but has yet to resume tests.

Nuclear-powered submarines were just one of many advanced military assets on Kim’s wish list during the congress, which also included longer-range ICBMs that could potentially target the U.S. mainland more reliably, new tactical nuclear weapons and warheads, spy satellites and hypersonic weapons.

It’s unclear whether North Korea is fully capable of developing such systems. While the country is believed to have accumulated at least dozens of nuclear weapons, outside estimates of the exact status of its nuclear and missile program vary widely.

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.