China Sends Defence Attaché Instead of Minister to ASEAN Meeting

What changed

China will send its defence attaché, rather than Defence Minister Dong Jun, to the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Cebu on Oct 29.

That is a clear step down from China’s representation at the 2025 meeting in Kuala Lumpur. It comes as Chinese and Philippine vessels clash over competing South China Sea claims, Manila deepens defence ties with Washington, and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth prepares to attend.

Why it matters

The seating plan now carries diplomatic weight. The Philippines is hosting a regional defence meeting while relations with China are deteriorating, and Beijing is choosing a lower-level presence. That makes the Cebu gathering less useful as a chance for senior Chinese and American officials to meet directly.

Hegseth had met Dong in Malaysia in 2025. Dong also skipped the Shangri-La Dialogue in May, so his absence in Cebu removes another opportunity for contact between the two defence chiefs.

The downgrade follows a sharper exchange between Manila and Beijing. Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan said China could “easily win” a conflict with the Philippines, while adding that Beijing would not use force and “love peace”. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr called the remark “like a threat” and said it was not diplomatic.

The report does not establish why Beijing lowered its delegation or whether the change will produce any operational or policy shift. But it does make the meeting’s political signal harder to miss: a forum designed for regional defence dialogue is taking place amid a worsening dispute, with China’s defence minister absent and the United States’ defence secretary present.