Defence ministers from around Asia and beyond gather this Friday in Singapore for the 20th edition of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, the region’s premier security summit. Over the coming weekend, the lobby of the Shangri-La hotel will transform into a blur of uniforms and power suits, as leaders from the security establishments of more than 40 countries dash between speeches and private bilateral meetings, trying to hash out pressing security concerns.

This year, as for much of the past two decades, the summit’s central focus will be the relationship between China and the United States. The Dialogue typically welcomes sizeable delegations from both superpowers, but this year, their interactions will be especially closely watched, given a steady deterioration in ties since they last met in Singapore in June 2022.