Singapore - Among the many military officials darted in the halls of Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore this weekend, there was a big absence.

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun skipped the Shangri-La dialogue at the annual Asian Prime Minister's Security Forum, while Beijing sent a delegation of low-level representatives.

This is the first time since 2019 that China has not sent its defense minister to regional defense high-level dialogue unless the incident was cancelled due to the 1920 and 2021 pandemic due to the Alliance.

Beijing’s decision has attracted attention in Singapore, a time when tensions between China and the United States are rising, the two largest superpowers in the world.

The director's absence means there is no face-to-face meeting with his U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who told the Defense Forum on Saturday that his own floor was his own.

"All Beijing must make it clear that there is reliable preparation to use military power to change the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific," Hegseth told the Singapore representative.

Heggs said pointing to China's conventional military exercises around Taiwan and the increasing frequent skirmishes in the South China Sea, saying Beijing is actively harassing its neighbors.

"There is no reason to paint it," Heggs said.

He also pointed out that China's growing military confidence is the reason for Asian countries to increase their defense spending, pointing to Germany, which has promised to spend 5% of its GDP.

"In European countries, Asia's main allies are spending less on defense when facing a stronger threat, and that's meaningless," said Hegsth.

The Defense Secretary also wants to assure Asian allies that Washington is committed to Asia-Pacific security despite the recent months, despite U.S. President Donald Trump targeting some close allies with huge trade tariffs.

"The United States is proud to return to the Indo-Pacific and we want to stay here," he said.

Some analysts quickly downplayed the severity of Hergs' warning about China.

"There are few countries in the world who see China as an imminent threat and will increase (defense) spending," said Dylan Loh, assistant professor of Public Policy and Global Affairs Program at South South Technical University in Singapore.

China seizes on the absence of Defense Minister

Over the past few years, the Shangri-La Dialogue has provided a rare platform for the summit to provide a meeting between Chinese and American officials.

The structure of the timeline also enables Beijing’s military chief to respond directly to the keynote speech of the U.S. Secretary of Defense and introduce its narrative to other members of the Asia-Pacific.

Beijing remains silent about the reasons why the defense minister East is absent from the forum, fueling the information gap filled by speculation.

One theory is that China does not want to send high-profile representatives to the event during such a sensitive period when Beijing drove the tariff war with the Trump administration.

"Any artificial pas or comments that may be out of script can be picked and taken apart or misunderstood," said Loh of South South Technical University of Singapore.

"So the question is why it is risky when the U.S.-China relations are in a very delicate position," Loh told Al Jazeera.

For Chinese defense ministers, Shangri-La dialogue weekend is not always the easiest moment. In recent years, they have faced difficult problems in other countries and are dissatisfied with Beijing's growing confidence in the Asia-Pacific region.

This could be another factor in Dong's absence from a high-profile event, Loh said.

"Now any Chinese defense minister who comes to Singapore will put himself and his country at political risks," he said. "These topics like the South China Sea and Taiwan may appear, which makes China a convenient target."

At the end of 2023, his predecessor, Li Shangfu, was appointed as China's Minister of National Defense.

In less than a year of work, media reports said he was under investigation as part of a broader investigation into Chinese military corruption, speculating around new positions in the Northeast. Beijing has denied the reports and the minister continues to maintain public image despite allegations.

According to reports, President Xi Jinping has clearly eliminated top officials and has also conducted strict scrutiny on China's military review.

One of Beijing's highest generals was Weidong, who disappeared in a high-profile political conference in April, adding to rumors surrounding the possible reorganization of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Ian Chong, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Centre for China Studies, said this speculation may be a factor in Singapore's East Side's failure to perform.

"Due to the domestic turmoil in China's senior military, they may not want to do this, or the PLA itself feels it can't send people," Chong told Al Jazeera.

Chinese military spokesman Colonel Zhang announced at a press conference before the summit that Colonel Zhang insisted that communication channels between defense officials in Washington and Beijing were still open.

Zhang said: "China attaches great importance to the US-China military ties and is open to exchanges on different levels."