Shangri-La Dialogue: as US and China clash, is it time for Asia’s smaller nations to choose a side?
- Many fear decoupling of American and Chinese economies will soon mean having to choose between the two powerhouses and their different sets of rules
- Analysts point to the Maldives and the Solomon Islands as case studies in how small nations can become flashpoints for great power rivalry
As the world watches two great powers stare each other down in a trade war, smaller states are busy devising survival strategies to avoid becoming collateral damage.
Many have perfected a delicate diplomatic balancing act in recent years to secure their interests as China ascends to power and the United States pushes back.
But as hostilities grow, so too do the stakes for these nations if they are forced to choose sides.
The challenges ahead were highlighted at a gathering of global defence chiefs in Singapore on Friday for the Shangri-La Dialogue.
It is almost tradition that the annual security conference – named after the luxury hotel it is hosted in – is dominated by verbal fisticuffs between high-level representatives of the United States and China.
The three-day forum is one of the rare occasions when usually reticent military chiefs speak plainly about their strategic visions.