China's Joint Staff Department Deputy Chief Admiral Sun Jianguo speaks at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 5, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - 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 criticise China.
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