By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL (AA)— Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun will skip the annual security dialogue in Singapore, the ministry said on Thursday.
A delegation from the National Defense University of the Chinese army will attend the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue, Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said at a news conference in Beijing.
Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore, is an internationally acclaimed defense summit where top officials discuss security matters.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro, and Indian Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan are among the attendees, while South Korean acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho is also skipping the event.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are all scheduled to speak at the event, which runs from Friday to Saturday.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in March had pledged support to the Philippines against “communist China” during his meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
"Deterrence is necessary around the world, but specifically in this region, in your country, considering the threats from the communist Chinese and that friends need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to deter conflict to ensure that there's free navigation," Hegseth said in Manila.
Usually, the Chinese and the US defense chiefs hold high-level talks on the sidelines of the security dialogue, as they did last year when US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Dong met to discuss military matters.
During his speech at the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue, Dong made clear that China would not tolerate any country starting wars in the Asia-Pacific region.