SINGAPORE — A Sunday morning speaking slot at the Shangri-La Dialogue reserved for a high-ranking Chinese milit official was left unfilled, after China scaled down its presence at the annual Singapore defense forum.
Beijing — which, unlike in recent years, did not send its defense minister to the summit — ceded an opportunity to rebut U.S. Defense Secret Pete Hegseth, who on Saturday used the same prime time slot to tout America’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. Without a prominent speaker from China, Sunday’s program started an hour later than originally planned.
