U.S. Secretary of Defence Ash Carter meets with South Korea's Minister of Defence Han Minkoo (R) and Japan's Minister of Defence Gen Nakatani for a trilateral at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 4, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Reuters: Diplomatic tag as countries find new ways of standing up to China
When U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter spoke at a key Asian summit at the weekend, he used the word "principled" 38 times, floating his vision of a U.S.-backed "security network" of countries in the region.
Several delegations were quick to respond to the idea at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, but it seemed to evolve into a form of diplomatic tag-team wrestling as a loose coalition of nations lined up to criticize China.
Nations including Japan, India, France and Vietnam joined calls for greater respect for international law to resolve worsening tensions over the South China Sea, a dig at Beijing which has said it will not accept any ruling by a U.N.-backed court on the dispute.
Chinese officials, meanwhile, stressed Beijing's commitment to being a peaceful, lawful and inclusive nation but said it would not be bullied.
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WNU Editor: This is one of those classic summits where everyone gets together .... they all do a lot of talking and posturing .... and they then leave with nothing substantive being agreed upon. And here is the rub .... China knows that.
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