freely. The break-out groups are usually chaired by a senior IISS staff member. By 2006, break-out group speaking slots are allocated only to ministers or senior officials from a delegation. Bilateral meetings While largely unpublicised, the Shangri-La Dialogues provide an annual venue for ministers, CHODs, and top defence officials to network and expand their defence diplomacy in private, both bilaterally and multilaterally. Rooms are reserved for the meetings to take place during breaks. A government delegation might typically arrange 15-20 such encounters, lasting half an hour each, over the course of the summit. Singapore's defence minister usually also hosts multilateral private lunches. Non-Government delegates The summit has been consistently attended by a mix of 200-plus non-government delegates, which include politicians, academics, businessmen, think tank analysts, media and other NGO personnel. This has given the SLD an aspect of a Track Two process, even though it is primarily a Track One event. Taylor notes that there are limited opportunities for interaction between non-government and government representatives. The inclusion of non-government delegates is the result of dynamic efforts being made so that the SLD does not become an "exclusive club". Impact Shangri-La has contributed to the enhancement of defence diplomacy by participating countries, in part by inspiring similar forums in other regions (e.g. the Halifax International Security Forum). The 2010 Chinese Defence White paper explicitly mentioned senior Chinese participation in Shangri-La Dialogue since 2007 as one of their forums of participation in regional security cooperation. The IISS thinks that increased representation from China indicate an increased level of engagement on a multilateral level and that the PLA wished to improve its image after recent measures, which were seen as too aggressive, impacted relations with affected countries. See also Defence Diplomacy Munich Security Conference ASEAN Regional Forum Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific Shangri-La Shooting, 2015 Raisina Dialogue References Footnotes Bibliography David Capie and Brendan Taylor, 'The Shangri-La Dialogue and the Institutionalization of Defence Diplomacy in Asia' (25 March 2010). Available at SSRN: The Shangri-La Dialogue and the Institutionalization of Defence Diplomacy in Asia Fu-kuo Liu, 'Implication of ‘Shangri-La Dialogue’ for Taiwan', Strategic and Security Analyses, Vol.38 (June 2008). [In Chinese] External links The IISS Shangri-La Dialogue (Official site) 2002 establishments in Singapore Political congresses Diplomatic conferences in Singapore 21st-century diplomatic conferences (Asia-Pacific) International military conferences June events Recurring events established in 2002