N.Korea to dominate agenda of regional security dialogue

‘All parties’ efforts’ needed to solve nuke issue

Major topics concerning security and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, including North Korea’s nuclear issue, are expected to be discussed during the 16th Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), experts said.

This year’s SLD, which kicked off in Singapore on Friday, is attended by 22 ministerial-level delegates and 12 chiefs of defence departments, as well as senior defence officials and academics from 39 countries and regions.

The Chinese delegation is headed by Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China. Delegates include officers from the Ministry of National Defense and scholars affiliated with the PLA. They will attend four group meetings of the SLD.

North Korea’s nuclear issue is expected to be a major topic at this year’s SLD, with a special session themed “Nuclear dangers in the Asia-Pacific” scheduled on Saturday afternoon.

Robert A. Manning, a resident senior fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security under the Atlantic Council, believes the thorny issue is the primary security threat in the region and will dominate the Shangri-La discussions.

SLD is an opportunity for enhanc- ing cooperation among relevant parties and US officials may use the occasion to consult with China and other key partners to build support for putting more intense pressure on North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear tests, Manning told the Global Times.

Each year, the SLD provides a platform for the US to affirm its strategic commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, and this year is no exception, Chinese experts said.

Washington has sent its Defence Secretary James Mattis to this year’s SLD, who will deliver a speech during the first of the five plenary sessions on Saturday morning.

The Global Times reporter at the SLD learned on Friday that Mattis is expected to explain the US’ AsiaPacific strategy under the administration of Donald Trump.

It will be the first time for a senior Trump administration official to address the US allies in the region.

“Mattis may spend much of his time reassuring US allies and security partners in the region, stressing the US’ leadership role in security and reaffirming its security promises,” Li Mingjiang, an associate professor at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, told the Global Times on Friday.

“The Chinese delegation would pay close attention to Mattis’s expla- nation on China’s role in US’ AsiaPacific strategy, which will decide whether the future of the Sino-US ties is cooperative or confrontational,” Zhao Xiaozhuo, a research fellow from the Academy of Military Science of PLA, who attended the SLD, told the Global Times.

Zhao noted that US should be aware of the fact that it would be difficult to solve the North Korean nuclear issue without cooperation with China and it should try to win over all parties’ efforts to deal with the problem instead of merely denouncing any party.

As the SLD has become a battlefield for Asia-Pacific diplomacy, regional countries may have pondered over the significance of China’s rise for the region’s future and the US’ role in it, experts said.

Li from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore also noted that many regional countries have adopted a hedging strategy toward China and China needs time and tactics to turn its economic influence into security clout.

“China should continue to utilize its economic strength to improve its political, diplomatic and even security ties with regional countries,” Li told the Global Times.