Summary
· US Vice President Kamala Harris, senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and the NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg will be among those at the three-day annual gathering
Frankfurt. World leaders will this week attend the Munich
Security Conference ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine, and with tensions between China and the United States rising over
espionage claims.
US Vice President Kamala Harris,
senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French
President Emmanuel Macron and the NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg will be among
those at the three-day annual gathering.
The event, beginning Friday, comes
just days ahead of the February 24 anniversary of Moscow sending its forces
into Ukraine, bringing war back to Europe for the first time in decades.
With Ukraine bracing for a fresh
offensive from Moscow, leaders are likely to renew their commitment to support
Kyiv for as long as it takes to beat back Russian aggression.
A year after President Vladimir
Putin committed a "breach of civilisation", the conference is faced
with the question of how the "rules-based international order" can be
respected, said the event's chairman Christoph Heusgen.
"In future, will there be an
order where the strength of law dominates or will there be an order in which
the law of the strongest prevails?" he asked at a press conference.
The question of "how to deal
with people, political leaders, who do not respect the rule of law" will
be on the agenda, he said.
US-China tensions are likely to
feature prominently at the gathering in the German city in the state of
Bavaria, with ties having nosedived since Washington shot down an alleged
Chinese spy balloon in early February.
Beijing has insisted it was for
civilian purposes and on Monday hit back by accusing the United States of
flying balloons over its territory -- a claim swiftly denied by Washington.
Heusgen said he did not think that
Wang would use remarks at the event to say "sorry, that was our spy
balloon that flew over".
But he added that "I do hope
that there will be talks... on the sidelines. I have already pointed out that
we have a high-ranking American delegation" attending.
Relations between the world's two
biggest economies have deteriorated in recent years over issues ranging from
human rights in Hong Kong to economic policy and the treatment of the Muslim
Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
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