China’s Defense Minister to Skip Singapore’s Flagship Security Forum for 2nd Year

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is set to address the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 30.

China's Defense Minister Dong Jun (C) walks to attend a ministerial lunch at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 1, 2025. Dita Alangkara/Pool/AFP

The Chinese military’s top diplomat will not attend Asia’s premier defense forum in Singapore this week, the defense ministry said on May 28, as questions swirl about the armed forces’ combat readiness amid the ongoing political cleansing.

China will send a delegation led by Maj. Gen. Meng Xiangqing, a professor at the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University, to join the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore from May 29 to 31, a defense ministry spokesperson said at a monthly briefing in Beijing.