Hong Kong, June 2 -- China, which did not send its top-drawer delegation to this year's edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, copped considerable criticism for its continued flouting of international rules and for the threat it poses to neighbors.

At this Singapore-based annual conference featuring military and diplomatic leaders from Asia and across the world, China usually sends a team headed by a defense minister. However, this year Beijing's delegation was headed by the relatively lowly Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng, Vice-President of China's National Defense University, for the summit held from 30 May till 1 June.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave a speech that was extremely blunt in its assessment of the current thre...