China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun will skip this week’s meeting of Southeast Asian defence chiefs and their dialogue partners in Cebu, with Beijing instead sending its defence attache in the Philippines.
Dong has attended the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) for the past two years. This year’s ADMM and ADMM-Plus, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, coincide with a major Communist Party meeting known as the fifth plenum, which is running in Beijing from Monday to Thursday.
While Beijing has not given a reason for Dong’s absence from the regional defence meeting, he is expected to attend the fifth plenum as a member of the Central Committee.
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The ADMM-Plus brings together defence ministers from Asean’s 11 member states and eight dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Launched in 2010, the expanded forum provides a platform for regional defence dialogue and cooperation.