A lot can change in three years, and that was certainly the case for Major General Yao Yunzhu, a military scholar who saw her role shift on Saturday from a person who was asking tough questions at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue to one who answered them.

On Saturday, the Dialogue opened a special session for the first time in connection to the situation in the South China Sea, and Yao, one of the speakers, fielded most of the questions.

The best option for resolving the South China Sea issue is to "downplay its importance" and make it more low-key, she said.