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.
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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.
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One of the military officials said, “The Chinese delegation told us they were not conducting bilateral engagements during the dialogue.”
