For the fifth time in a row, I took part in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore recently. Over the years, I saw the "face-off" between China and the US gradually came to dominate the limelight during the Dialogue.

One can almost tangibly feel the mutual discomfort between China and the US, at least on the strategic front. The US views the rapid rise of China as eroding the US' long-time security presence in the region. China, in turn, appears to perceive a sometimes not-so-subtle US-led "containment" effort to "encircle" China that could harm China's national interests. 

When these two vastly contrasting views of regional strategic outlook come to a head, as happened during many a previous Shangri-La Dialogue, harsh rhetoric was traded, and the atmosphere as well as the prospects for peaceful coexistence dimmed.

But almost buried beneath these often heated exchanges between China and the US are the voices of many other regional security participants, not the least those from Southeast Asia. And their voices matter for at least two reasons. The first is the dangerous flashpoints in the region.

The South China Sea is an East Asian flashpoint where armed clashes are most conceivable. Of course, China with its sovereignty claims over a vast portion of South China Sea, and the US with its insistence on "freedom of navigation" operations over similar stretches, are also unlikely to militarily confront each other directly. But small-scale, low-intensity armed conflicts between the various sovereignty claimants of South China Sea, including those from Southeast Asia, remain a distinct possibility, as has happened in the past. 

Another reason for Southeast Asian voices to be featured more prominently in security affairs is that the region is one of the world's most economically vibrant belts. Coupled with Southeast Asia's strategic location straddling the major trade routes of the world, peace and stability in the region simply cannot afford to be derailed.

What do Southeast Asian voices have to say on regional strategic concerns?

The first point has to do with the accommodation of superpowers such as China and the US. For more than three quarters of a century, the US has had a significant security presence in the area, providing a protective umbrella for treaty allies such as the Philippines, and in general maintaining order and stability among many other regional players. Many Southeast Asian countries have grown accustomed to such a conspicuous yet benign US role in the region.

For them, it is inconceivable that the US would withdraw its influence from this part of the world. And China is a latecomer in being a significant strategic player in the region.

Mutual strategic trust and confidence between China and Southeast Asian countries would have to be built over time, although the latter cautiously welcome the rise of China as a responsible provider of security.

Southeast Asian nations are likely to hold dear to the notion of ASEAN centrality in regional security. A so-called "G2" scenario, whereby regional security matters are decided and implemented between China and the US, with ASEAN countries as essentially bystanders, is not one they want to see. 

Southeast Asia's trading traditions dictate that economic development and collaboration almost always take precedence over "unnecessary" security issues.

For example, more than one Southeast Asian claimant in the South China Sea see themselves as being "unnecessarily" embroiled in the recent tussles over sovereignty. They would much rather adopt the notion first put forward by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping of "setting aside disputes in favor of joint development." They also see the South China Sea disputes as only one small portion of their overall relations with the superpowers, which should emphasize trade, not territory.

In summary, reasonable and responsible Southeast Asian voices in regional security should be made more prominent, and such generally pragmatic and productive voices may indeed help lower strategic tensions in favor of a more stable and prosperous region in an otherwise turbulent and downturning world.

The author is a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn Follow us on Twitter @GTopinion