A police automotive is seen on the venue of the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit. File image
| Photograph Credit score: AFP
China stated on Thursday (Could 28, 2026) it’s going to ship a delegation of specialists and students from its military’s research establishments to attend Asia’s premier safety discussion board in Singapore.
The Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s high worldwide defence summit, kicks off within the city-state on Friday (Could 29, 2026).
The assembly has traditionally supplied uncommon alternatives for senior officers to carry face-to-face talks, and can be attended by U.S. Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth this yr.
However Mr. Hegseth’s Chinese language counterpart, Dong Jun, won’t be in attendance, with Beijing’s Defence Ministry saying at a Thursday (Could 28) information convention it might ship a delegation of “specialists and students” as an alternative.
Main Common Meng Xiangqing of the Nationwide Protection College will lead the delegation, and different members will embody specialists and students from the Nationwide Protection College, the Academy of Army Sciences and the Navy, Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin instructed reporters on Thursday (Could 28).
“China attaches nice significance to defence and safety cooperation within the Asia-Pacific area,” Mr. Jiang stated.
Beijing “constantly upholds the ideas of openness and inclusiveness, and actively participates in numerous constructive dialogues”, he added.
“The specialists and students dispatched for this go to will comprehensively articulate China’s ideas and initiatives, striving to boost mutual belief, dispel doubts, construct consensus, and deepen cooperation.”
This would be the second yr Dong will skip the summit.
Mr. Dong’s absence from the discussion board final yr got here after experiences in 2024 stated he had been positioned underneath investigation for corruption, one thing Chinese language authorities have dismissed as “pure fabrications”.
Beijing organises its personal defence summit, the Xiangshan Discussion board, thought-about China’s reply to the Shangri-La assembly.
Revealed – Could 28, 2026 09:02 pm IST