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Shangri-La Dialogue: Stage set for high drama over South China Sea shoals

With the Philippine President as keynote speaker, the spotlight will fall on rising tensions over China’s actions in asserting its claims over the Second Thomas and Scarborough shoals.

Chinese coast guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel as it made its way to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Tan See Seng

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May 31 sees the launch of the 21st edition of the

Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), an annual security forum in Singapore

attended by defence chiefs, senior military brass and prominent policy wonks from around the world. The SLD is in many ways an elaborate and stylised form of interactive theatre whose speakers perform for different audiences, be they international or domestic, often with messages specifically crafted for the target group.

The SLD, if you like, is political kabuki. Its most prominent “acts” – the ones that command the most newsworthy attention – are typically the sessions featuring the American and Chinese defence ministers.

Shangri-La Dialogue: Stage set for high drama over South China Sea shoals

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