Shangri-La intel from IISS CEO John Chipman
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, Singapore – With 35 countries here in Singapore for the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, there’s a lot of chatter about what might happen and what various high level delegations are up to. Some of the best intelligence can be found on the Twitter feed of IISS Director-General and CEO John Chipman (@chipmanj). “Teams from ...
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, Singapore - With 35 countries here in Singapore for the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, there's a lot of chatter about what might happen and what various high level delegations are up to. Some of the best intelligence can be found on the Twitter feed of IISS Director-General and CEO John Chipman (@chipmanj).
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, Singapore – With 35 countries here in Singapore for the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, there’s a lot of chatter about what might happen and what various high level delegations are up to. Some of the best intelligence can be found on the Twitter feed of IISS Director-General and CEO John Chipman (@chipmanj).
“Teams from #US and #China working well together as #IISS_Asia #ShangriLaDialogue approaches: have agreed room for Gates-LiangGuanglie bilat,” Chipman tweeted late Thursday, referring to today’s highly anticipated meeting between Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie.
Earlier today, Chipman might have spilled some information too soon.
“Expectations build at #IISS_Asia #ShangriLaDialogue about joint press statement SecDef Gates and Chinese defence minister,” he tweeted.
The tweet was later deleted, but not before being captured on the Twitter feed of your humble Cable guy, who will also be live tweeting and live blogging the entire conference in real time (@joshrogin).
It’s unclear whether the rumored Gates-Liang joint statement has been scuttled or if it’s just not supposed to be public yet, but a joint statement would fall in line with Gates’ effort to portray a healthy and improving U.S.-China military to military relationship on his last foreign trip before stepping down.
(UPDATE: We are told reliably by two sources that there is no joint statement planned. Each side will issue separate statements before the meeting.)
Chipman also wants his followers to know there could be other big developments at the conference that have nothing to do with China.
“#IISS_Asia #ShangriLaDialogue will not just cover #US #China relations. Opportunity for #Thailand –#Cambodia talks too if seized by parties,” he tweeted.
“#China #Vietnam #Philippines #Malaysia #Brunei defence chiefs all at IISS#ShangriLaDialogue: crucial chance for#Spratly conflict resolution?” he asks.
Chipman notes that the South China Sea issue will be hotly debated and will draw attention to the speeches of Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phung Quang Thanh and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib bin Tun Hj Abdul Razak.
He also predicts that Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa might talk about basing issues in Japan. Your humble Cable guy is off to Tokyo next week following the conference and is looking for Kitazawa’s comments on the announcement of Prime Minister Naoto Kan that he intends to resign.
Chipman’s twitter feed is a mix of inside tips, public relations messaging, and his own hopes for the event. He even puts forth a challenge for the various delegations to take advantage of Burma’s presence at the conference.
“Defence Minister of #Myanmar to lead delegation to #IISS_Asia #ShangriLaDialogue #Singapore. Chance for key states constructively to engage?”
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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