Rhetorical truce: China and US expected to avoid conflict at Singapore security forum
Analysts say Washington and Beijing will want to play down their differences ahead of a key strategic and economic meeting next week
The United States, China and other Asian nations are taking steps to contain rising tensions over the South China Sea at a key regional security meeting that began in Singapore on Friday.
As defence ministers and military chiefs from major Asian and European nations gather for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, there are signs that both China and the US are keen to tone down their rhetoric and find ways to avoid confrontation, according to analysts.
They said that both sides would not want their differences on the maritime disputes to sabotage their relations, especially with a major bilateral diplomatic and economic dialogue due to start in Beijing on Monday.
In another sign of goodwill, Hanoi has invited the naval fleet of the People’s Liberation Army to make stops at unspecified ports in Vietnam, according to defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun.
The invitation was issued on the dialogue’s sidelines during a meeting between Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh and Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. China and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.
PLA admiral to make China’s case at security forum
Dr Bonnie Glaser, of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said that while Beijing and Washington were expected to stand firm on their diverging interests in the maritime disputes, they would not use the meeting to draw attention to their disagreements.