Delegates at Asia’s most important defense conference are asking one pressing question: “Where is China?”
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun has now missed the Shangri-La Dialogue for two consecutive years, choosing not to attend Singapore’s premier security gathering. His absence means missed chances to engage directly with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and defense officials from Australia, France, Britain, Japan and numerous other countries.
Instead of sending high-ranking military leadership, Beijing opted to dispatch a modest group of People’s Liberation Army “experts and scholars” – a significant downgrade from their typical influential representation.
The annual conference traditionally features a major address from China’s defense minister or another senior official outlining Beijing’s military philosophy and perspective on international conflicts. However, this signature presentation has been removed from this year’s schedule, just as it was in 2025.
Hegseth acknowledged the notable absence during his Saturday keynote address.
“I wish my counterpart was here at this conference, but I look forward to other options when we can cross paths and communicate, talk about things where often actions at sea or actions in the air are perceived differently,” he stated.
Australia’s Richard Marles described the situation as a missed chance for nations to engage in direct, honest discussions about regional tension points.
Despite skipping the Singapore forum, Dong Jun did hold talks with Hegseth when U.S. President Donald Trump visited China earlier this month.
Zhou Bo, a former PLA senior colonel participating in China’s delegation, minimized the significance of the defense minister’s absence.
“This is not the first time the defence minister is not attending,” he explained. “And academic delegations have come before. But it is true that the level of the delegation is relatively low this time.”
Several experts suggest Beijing made a strategic decision to avoid difficult questioning about Taiwan-related tensions and how military corruption investigations might affect China’s battlefield capabilities.
“My feeling is that they are trying to avoid tough questions,” explained Chong Ja Ian, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore.
“The question that comes up with the (Chinese) delegation, since it is so researcher heavy, is their representativeness and authoritativeness.”
Diplomatic sources indicate Beijing may have wanted to prevent a repeat of last year’s forum, when Hegseth characterized China as a regional threat and called on Asian partners to increase military expenditures.
At that time, Beijing accused the United States of unfairly demonizing China.
This year, Hegseth adopted a more moderate approach, though he warned that “no state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of our nation and our allies in question.”
He also noted that U.S.-China diplomatic ties were in better shape than they had been for several years.
China started participating in the 23-year-old conference with typically high-ranking delegations beginning in 2007. The country sent its defense minister in 2011 and 2019, then maintained this practice from 2022 through 2024. The forum was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bilahari Kausikan, an experienced Singapore diplomat, noted that the Shangri-La Dialogue’s main purpose has always been maintaining U.S. engagement in Southeast Asia and guaranteeing America’s defense secretary visits Singapore and the region annually.
“Whether China is represented by its defence minister is a secondary factor. It would be nice but not essential to have the Chinese defence minister here.”
