The gathering, which will see the coming together of senior defense chiefs from across Asia, is a key opportunity for sideline meetings between major global players, and this year is likely to also include rare face-to-face talks between heads of the American and Chinese militaries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is heading from the United States. In his first trip as Defense Secretary last year, Lloyd Austin hosted former Chinese Defense Minister Adm. Dong Jun, at the forum, and agreed to hold onto a dialogue even as military tension was escalating, especially over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Tensions Grow Even as Tariffs Are Paused
The choice not to send Dong Jun this year comes amid newly strained relations between Washington and Beijing. Tensions had eased earlier this month when the two countries agreed to a temporary tariff truce after they had imposed duties of more than 100% on each other’s goods. But that tranquillity was quickly broken this week. Only two days before the forum, the United States announced new rules to curb software exports to Chinese technology firms and said it would tighten visa rules for Chinese students.
Those developments have revived questions about the precarious status quo in US-China relations, and the fact that there will be no senior Chinese military presence has thrown the possibility of an encounter into doubt.

China Ventures From Guardian Angel to ‘Garbage’?
China’s Defense Ministry refused to provide a specific explanation on why the defense minister was not sent at a press briefing, but said the country is open to communication. A US defense official saw China’s decision as an expression of lack of satisfaction in the current rate of contacts and that Beijing may not be certain about the summit’s usefulness or direction.
Though China has had little representation in the past at Shangri-La, its representatives in the past have been peppered with tough, unscripted questions from regional leaders and analysts. Last year, the Filipino president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chided aggressive actions in the South China Sea in remarks widely seen as an admonishment of China.

And China’s 2023 purge of more than a dozen senior military officials during a high-profile anti-corruption campaign further rattled the country’s top brass.
Some analysts believe that China’s less visible role in the summit reflects a refocusing of attention on the importance of maintaining stable economic connections, especially in light of concerns how tariffs will effect regional duties. Defense discussions are important, but at the moment China appears to be placing the focus on trade diplomacy, instead of the military.