Australia calls out China for sending only academics to defence forum, AUKUS partners tease big Saturday reveal

Chinese defence minister skips meeting

For the second year running, China's Defence Minister Dong Jun has skipped the meeting and Beijing has said it planned to send a delegation consisting mainly of experts and scholars from the People's Liberation Army.

Marles, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi as well as counterparts from France, Britain, Malaysia, the Philippines and other nations are attending. "(China's) presence is something that we welcomed in the past, and having opportunities to engage with China are important," Marles said.

Australia, he said, was expanding defence ties with nations across the Asia-Pacific but the alliance with the US remained the cornerstone of Canberra's security policy.