Preview : Shangri-La Dialogue 2026

When New Zealand's new Defence Minister Chris Penk touches down in Singapore this week, he will be stepping into one of the world's most influential defence gatherings.

The 23rd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, runs from 29 to 31 May at the iconic Singapore hotel that gives the summit its name. The meeting brings together defence ministers, military chiefs, and security strategists from over 40 countries to debate the Indo-Pacific's most pressing security challenges.

For a country that has long relied on geographic distance as a kind of natural buffer, the forum is an increasingly important arena for New Zealand - and the issues on the table this year look extremely relevant.

Mr Penk, who was appointed Defence Minister in April after a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, arrives in Singapore off the back of a Budget week in which he secured $1.5 billion in new defence spending with a heavy emphasis on maritime security. His pitch to New Zealanders has been straightforward:  the Pacific Ocean is not a shield, but a vital national interest to Aotearoa that must be actively secured.

That thinking will find ready agreement at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Speaking ahead of the summit, Penk acknowledged that New Zealand's comfortable sense of distance from global instability has been steadily eroded. Recent disruptions to international shipping routes - including the Strait of Hormuz, where the Trump administration's confrontation with Iran all but crippled global fuel supplies, have demonstrated just how quickly distant conflicts can rattle the Kiwi economy.

He has also pointed to intensifying great-power competition in the Pacific as a central concern.

The Shangri-La Dialogue offers something rare for a minister barely six weeks into his portfolio: a concentrated round of bilateral meetings with counterparts from across the Indo-Pacific. He is expected to hold talks with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, with Japan's potential sale of Mogami-class frigates to New Zealand a significant item on the agenda.

A former Royal New Zealand Navy officer who also served as an Australian submariner, Penk brings an unusually hands-on background to these discussions. He has pushed the concept of deeper interoperability with Australia, endorsed the concept of pushing  the Anzac Alliance out to 2035.

He has also said he would be open to meeting China's Defence Minister Dong Jun if he ends up being part of the Beijing delegation, although latest reports in Singapore indicate that may not now happen.

The headline address this year comes from an unexpected source. Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary and President Tô Lâm will deliver the keynote address on Friday evening - the first appearance by Vietnam’s most powerful political figure at the summit. It signals Hanoi's ambition to be seen as an independent strategic player, deepening ties with multiple partners while formally aligning with none. It’s a position that will resonate with the New Zealand defence minister.

Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary and President Tô Lâm / Image Wikimedia

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will address the first plenary session on Saturday on America's strategy for peace in the Indo-Pacific - a speech that will be closely watched by allies still uncertain about the Trump administration's reliability as a security partner. In 2025 Hegseth used his first appearance at Shangri-La to aggressively call out China's military build-up and "grey zone tactics," while insisting America is "back" in the Indo-Pacific for the long term.

Singapore's own Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing will host the summit, having set the tone at a meeting January by warning that the world is in a period when "weeks where decades happen." Singapore's message is simple :small states must invest in security and maintain relevance, without taking sides.

China's level of participation at the Shangri-La Dialogue has become a barometer of its relationship with the West: in 2025, Beijing sent a delegation from the PLA National Defence University rather than its Defence Minister, a downgrade that was noted across the region. Whether China upgrades its representation this year remains unconfirmed as the summit opens, but one of the plenary sessions is dedicated entirely to China's cooperative partnerships in the Asia-Pacific - ensuring Beijing will be centre stage whether or not its minister is in the room.

For New Zealand, a country navigating carefully between its largest trading partner (China) and its closest security partners (the United States and Australia), the forum is a chance to listen, to signal, and to build relationships that matter when a crisis arrives.

The 23rd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue runs 29–31 May 2026 in Singapore.