But rather than offering a preview of next week's main event, issues surrounding North Korea took a backseat during this year's Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's foremost security forum. That's not to say the subject of North Korea was not entirely absent from the summit's scheduled panel discussions. During her address, Parly announced plans to sail a French maritime task group, together with British helicopters and ships, "into certain areas" of the South China Sea. Bigger issues at playThe South China Sea has long been a flash point between the US and China. He said that once North Korea is removed from the situation, "strategic competition with China would come front and center."

Source: CNN June 04, 2018 05:47 UTC