Shangri-la Dialogue discusses China's expansionist actions in the South China Sea

Defense Secretary Mattis is likely to briefly address the North Korea issue at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Photo: AP

Delegates said the annual Shangri-La Dialogue would be an opportunity for Mattis and other regional officials to look beyond North Korea and address other pressing issues, especially China’s recent moves to strengthen its claims in many areas of the South China Sea.

Mr. Tim Huxley - Executive Director for Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (Singapore), the Shangri-La Dialogue's organizer, said: "It will not be surprising if North Korea emerges as the most important topic at the Shangri-La Dialogue. However, this issue will not overshadow other serious crises in the region."

According to Mr. Huxley, one of them is China's increasing expansionist activities in the South China Sea, and what role the US will play in Asia. He shared: "There is a big question about the role of the US in the context of this country applying the policy of America first."

The US-North Korea summit is not the focus of the Shangri-La security dialogue. Photo: Getty

Meanwhile, an unnamed US official said: "Secretary of Defense Mattis is likely to briefly mention the North Korea issue, because his focus is on broader US strategy and regional security issues."

Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said Mattis needs to show that the US can address more than just North Korea. According to Poling, the US needs to show that it “has the ability to focus on other challenges, including the South China Sea and the threat of economic coercion through the Belt and Road Initiative and all the slow-moving crises that are out there, although North Korea is a pressing concern.”

The US military has made China and Russia central to its new national defence strategy, which will set priorities for the Pentagon in the coming years. The thorny question is how Washington can successfully engage Beijing on North Korea while also containing Beijing’s behaviour in the South China Sea and over Taiwan.