En route to the G7 summit in the United Kingdom where he is set to have his first in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is stopping over in Singapore to meet with his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. Their agenda items are expected to prioritise discussions of regional security and defence cooperation, as well as likely touching on the crisis in Myanmar, and vaccine supplies.
Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence, highlighted both Australia and Singapore's ties to the United States, but while "Singapore is much more in the US camp than China's" by ASEAN standards, both countries are "trying to manage exposure to China and Chinese coercion".
“Australia has obviously been far more willing to go out on a limb, to take a very public stand on key interests and points of difference with China. Singapore takes a much more private approach and has been quite muted in the rhetoric,” Mr Townshend explained.