Overview
- The three-day forum brings together defense officials and experts from about 100 countries and international organizations.
- Discussions center on Asia-Pacific flashpoints such as Taiwan and the South China Sea alongside the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East.
- A U.S. Defense Department official confirmed Washington’s delegation is led by its Beijing-based defense attaché.
- Last year the United States sent a deputy assistant secretary and held a bilateral defense dialogue, a step not taken this year.
- The event, now in its 12th edition, is organized by a Chinese military-affiliated think tank, with Japan represented by researchers from the National Institute for Defense Studies.