It is customary for Chinese military delegations to push back against American messaging at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest security summit. But this year’s response was different: the rebuttal was not led by China’s defence minister, but the country’s military academic institutions.
Beijing’s low-key attendance at the three-day forum in Singapore, which wrapped up on Sunday, was marked by the absence of the defence minister and the cancellation of a plenary session on China’s security, which led to speculation and a few surprises.
The absence of Defence Minister Dong Jun, who attended last year, also meant there were no bilateral talks between China and other countries, including the US, at a time when Beijing has been confronted with concerns about its military prowess.
A US defence official confirmed to the Post on Friday that the two sides had not arranged bilateral meetings during the forum.
Dong’s absence was also a disappointment for other countries that had sought to hold talks on the sidelines of the forum, according to military officials from two countries who requested to remain anonymous.
One of the military officials said, “The Chinese delegation told us they were not conducting bilateral engagements during the dialogue.”
