a small thaw in a relationship that has reached worrying levels of hostility for countries in this region. now, mr austin said he was in singapore to listen, that the united states did not seek conflict and that it wasn t seeking a new cold war. but he did criticise china for what he calls a more coercive and more aggressive approach it was taking with regards to its territorial disputes in the region. now, that means the south china sea and that means taiwan. 0n taiwan, mr austin also criticised the increased military operations that china was engaging in near the self governing island. he called them provocative and destabilising. we also heard today from the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky. he addressed delegates via video link and he said that the outcome of the war would notjust affect his country, but it would affect the entire