Dialogue is the way forward in Asia (2)

Yang Baoyun, a professor of Asia-Pacific studies at Peking University, said China will not remain indifferent when its core interests are threatened.

"China's words on this year's Shangri-La Dialogue help other players in the region better understand that territorial issues are the core interests of China and it is where China's bottom line lies," Yang said.

"This will help the countries better understand China's strategic attempts, and therefore deepen the trust among them, although differences on specific issues still remain," he said.

Zhang Tuosheng, a researcher at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, said countries that have territorial issues with China had milder words during the forum, because they know they cannot achieve favorable results without China. However, he added that those countries are also influenced by the United States, which continued to push its Asia-pivot strategy.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said at the forum that Washington will increase the deployment of ground forces and put 60 percent of the US air force overseas in the Asia-Pacific.

At the Shangri-La forum last year, Hagel's predecessor Leon Panetta said that the US would commit 60 percent of its naval forces to the region.

Although Hagel denied that Washington's increasing military presence targets China, Yang said it is obvious that the enhanced military power targets China since Washington doesn't want to lose dominance in the region.

Since China and the US have common as well as competing interests in the region, it's essential to build a new non-zero sum cooperative relationship, said Zhang.

He called for building an efficient mechanism to control the risks caused by the competition.