“Where is China?”
This question has two meanings:
China matters.
And China is ignoring Shangri-La.
China does not owe attendance to every U.S.-anchored propaganda forum dressed up as an “Asian security dialogue.”
Shangri-La was never neutral.
Its real purpose is to put China on trial, giving Washington and its Asian client states a stage to perform moral outrage, recycle “China threat” rhetoric, and pretend containment is regional consensus.
If China attends, they stage an interrogation.
If China skips, they cry about “refusing dialogue.”
This was never communication.
It was merely a declining empire demanding that China enter a courtroom built by its accusers.
China has no obligation to satisfy the comfort needs of the United States and its clients.
China has never needed to conform to a Western narrative framework.
It is too large to be framed.
It is the framework.