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With the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue over, China’s decision not to send Defense Minister Dong Jun became a news story in its own right, shifting much of the outside world’s attention from the regional security conference itself to why China snubbed the event, as it did last year. The decision is a sign of China’s confidence in its own power—and its desire to avoid direct public confrontation with the United States.

China first began participating in the in 2007. Until 2018, China was mostly represented by a deputy chief of the general staff or a vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences, with the only exception being 2011, when the then-defense minister attended. Beginning in 2019, however, and excluding 2020 and 2021 when the forum was suspended because of the pandemic, China sent its defense minister.

With the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue over, China’s decision not to send Defense Minister Dong Jun became a news story in its own right, shifting much of the outside world’s attention from the regional security conference itself to why China snubbed the event, as it did last year. The decision is a sign of China’s confidence in its own power—and its desire to avoid direct public confrontation with the United States.

China first began participating in the in 2007. Until 2018, China was mostly represented by a deputy chief of the general staff or a vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences, with the only exception being 2011, when the then-defense minister attended. Beginning in 2019, however, and excluding 2020 and 2021 when the forum was suspended because of the pandemic, China sent its defense minister.

But last year, China was represented by a major general who serves as a vice president of the National Defense University. (Chinese military academics like this are their own breed, not command officials.) This year, the level of representation was lowered further, with the delegation led by Meng Xiangqing, a National Defense University professor with the rank of major general.

In earlier years, the defense minister attended in person because China needed to speak at international forums, project an image of........

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