 SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States is encouraged by China’s efforts to restrain North Korea but Washington will not accept Beijing’s militarization of islands in the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday.  The secretary of defense added it would be a ‘crummy world’ if Americans retreat, as US leadership and international commitment came under question 
 
 US secretary of defense James Mattis has urged allies to “bear with us”, noting it would be a “crummy world” if Americans retreated into isolationism. “Bear with us,” he said before going to paraphrase a quote from Winston Churchill: “Once we’ve exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing.” 
 
 Kori Schake, a Stanford University defense expert who has co-edited a book with Mattis on the relationship between the US military and civilians, said he had given “a speech replete with the reassurances America’s Asian allies crave: the importance of a rules-based international order, America’s enduring commitment to its allies and willingness to run risks for our common security, centrality of values in our alliance relationships”. “The Trump administration is encouraged by China’s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearization,” Mattis said. “We will still be there, and we will be there with you,” he said, speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. “I would like to know very clearly what are the true intentions of the new administration.” 
 
 Mattis sought to ease concerns for allies in the Asia-Pacific, saying the region was a priority and the primary effort was alliance building.
– James Mattis, seeking to calm world leaders Saturday following President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, urged them to "bear with us," the Guardian reports. The Defense secretary, paraphrasing Winston Churchill, said Americans will do the right thing "once we have exhausted all possible alternatives." Mattis was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, according to the Hill. The conference is a major forum on security and the main topic was North Korea, but Mattis was repeatedly asked about the US' commitment to the rest of the world following Trump's decision on the Paris climate agreement and earlier decision to leave the Trans-Pacific trade agreement. While Mattis explained that some Americans think the US bears an "inordinate burden" on the global stage, he said American isolationism is a thing of the past. "Like it or not, we are a part of the world," Reuters quotes the Defense secretary as saying. "What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders." Mattis assured international leaders that Trump leaving the Paris climate agreement "does not mean we are turning our back" on the world. "We will still be there with you," he said. It's unclear if the forum's attendees believed him, pointing out that he appeared to be saying the opposite of the American president.