South China Sea quarrel looks to be sidelined at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore
The North Korean nuclear programme is likely to replace the South China Sea quarrel as the biggest talking point at the annual Asia Security Summit in Singapore starting this Friday. The three-day forum, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, is a platform for defence officials from some 50 Asia-Pacific states, including China, Japan, South Korea, the Asean countries and Britain and Russia. It has in the past been the stage for airing South China Sea territorial disputes, but these have quieted down in recent months as Beijing has improved its relations with its Association of Southeast Asian Nations neighbours. However, uncertainties about North Korea have increased in recent months. It has fired 12 missiles during nine tests so far this year, with three being launched within the past three weeks, and is likely to be a key topic at the summit in Singapore. “North Korea’s nuclear proliferation presents a serious threat to regional security and stability and is likely to be a very important subject for this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, ” Dr Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, a research associate at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, said. “We are witnessing violence, extremism and the proliferation of transnational threats. The countries in this region are already under tremendous pressure, ” Chaturvedy said. Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie agreed that compared with the South China Sea, the North Korean nuclear question was “more urgent and dangerous”. But he said Beijing would try to convince its summit counterparts that its ability to constrain Pyongyang’s nuclear programme was limited.
