Singapore
CNN
–
China will not send the Minister of Defense to this year’s Shangri-La dialogue, avoiding the opportunity for high-level meetings between us and our Asian counterparts as a tension with Washington.
China announced Thursday that it will be represented instead by the delegation of the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University, marking the first high-level delegation from Beijing in five years to miss Asia’s biggest defense and security forum.
The United States will be represented at the event by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses. The event often offers an opportunity for the bystanders of unusual in-person meetings between top US and Chinese generals and defense officials.
Last year, then-US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Defence Minister Dong Jun, who was on the sidelines of the event, and the two pledged to continue the US-China dialogue amid simmering military tensions over Taiwan-China attacks in the South China Sea.
Beijing’s decision not to send Don this year raises doubts whether there will be a meeting between the US and China at a time when tensions between the two have risen.
China has opposed America’s efforts to strengthen its alliance and defence stance in Asia in recent years, but economic frictions rose to historic levels earlier this year after President Donald Trump’s tariff levies on China caused The-TAT between two countries, which have risen more than 100% on each other’s goods.
The two sides announced a temporary tariff ceasefire earlier this month, but tensions erupted this week. On Wednesday, two days before the forum’s opening, the US aimed to hit a shock double punch targeting software to Chinese tech companies, learning visas granted to Chinese students, putting a fragile trade war between Washington and Beijing at risk.
At a press conference for China’s Ministry of Defense on Thursday, a spokesman raised questions as to why Beijing did not send a minister of defense to the Singapore Forum.
China was “open to communication at all levels between the two,” a spokesman for the ministry said when asked about potential bystanders to meet with the US delegation.
The downgrade of China’s Shangri-La delegation showed Beijing was not satisfied with Washington, US defense officials told CNN on Thursday.
“They’re being troked by us,” the official said.
“It signalled that they are particularly concerned about the level of engagement with the US in order to send a message that everything is not entirely normal within that range, and there may be some other underlying reasons for mere uncertainty about what Shangri-La intends to achieve,” the official said.
Traditionally, China has had few friends at Shangri-La. There, speakers face real-time, unscripted questions from journalists and academics attending the conference.
“Beijing always wants to control the story and discourse, and Shangri-La doesn’t make that possible,” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at S. Rajaratnam International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore.
Last year, Defense Minister Don faced tough questions after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned illegal, forced and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea with apparent hints at China.
Chinese military has also been in the spotlight in recent years as it has had more than dozens of high rank numbers in Chinese defense facilities since 2023, and its top rank has been caught up in the spotlight due to drastic corruption purges.
Analysts said the lack of a high-level Chinese delegation at the defence conference may indicate that Beijing emphasizes the economy and trade on military relations in diplomacy at this time.
“Although security engagement, such as SLD (Shangri-la Dialogue), is important in the broader geopolitics schemes, at this point, it appears that regional governments are probably even more concerned about the impact of tariffs on the economy.”
Ahead of the weekend meeting, much attention has been focused on how the growing regionally-wide US-led alliance during the Biden administration will be maintained under Trump’s second term.
There was a wide consensus among analysts that unlike the chaos that Trump caused in Europe, there was a threat to pull back from NATO and abandon Ukraine in the fight against Russian invasion.
Hegses’ first trip to Asia as defense secretary began in the Philippines – at the forefront of China’s increasingly aggressive stance in Asia – he said the US will work with allies to “reestablish deterrence” to counter the “China attack.”
He had a similar message on Friday during early morning training with the crew on a US Navy ship in Singapore.
“We signal our allies and partners. Hey, here is the United States, here in India-Pacific. We’re not going anywhere. We’re here to stop the enemy who wants harm from us.” The analyst said US-led military exercises, particularly those involving major allies, Australia, the Philippines and South Korea, were continued or strengthened in 2025.
A spokesperson for the US Pacific Command told CNN there are 120 bilateral or multilateral exercises involving US forces in the Indo-Pacific this year.
However, while increasing US involvement is welcomed by those taking part in such exercises, Washington must be careful not to exacerbate China.
“Deepening security engagement in the US is welcome, but not so much on the strategic aspects that create tension,” he said.
On Thursday, senior spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said China “puts military relations very much” but warned Washington against “stimulating a powerful enemy of its own, intentional or intentional.”
“That imagination is rational and not extremely dangerous,” Chan said.
Thompson, a researcher at RSIS, said China’s extra stimulants in this year’s dialogue are large European conditions, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who will give a keynote speech on Friday night.
“China’s support for Russia (war in Ukraine) had a major impact on relations with Europe, which is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the evidence of China’s support for Russian war machinery, and is highly likely to beat the public tongue.
“This can be a troubling environment for high-level PLA executives looking to manage and improve relations in Asia. If you can’t win, don’t take part.”
