Although one of the main topics has been the South China Sea issue at the Shangri-La Dialogue, experts and officials have agreed that the security forum is still an important platform to promote collaboration and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

China’s defense ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun said the Shangri-La Dialogue, which concluded on Sunday, offered multilateral channels for governments and scholars to exchange views, while military officials and delegates could also use this platform to conduct communications to enhance mutual trust.

“It is good for better collaboration and regional security,” he said.

During the three-day event, admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the General Staff of China’s People’s Liberation Army, met separately with military officials and delegates from 13 countries, and exchanged views on issues such as regional security and bilateral military ties.

… Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Singapore Nanyang Technological University, believed China’s participation in the dialogue helped other countries better understand its position.

“China’s continuous participation in the dialogue for many years would indeed, for example, clarify some misunderstanding in the international community against China, as well as deepen China’s understanding of what the wider international community is thinking in terms of defense, collective security and so on.”