Gen. Li Shangfu

Beijing removes defense minister, latest move in high-level military and diplomatic shake-up

The news came hours after a Pentagon official said an American delegation would attend a Chinese security conference, amid strained military-to-military relations between Washington and Beijing.

‘Mind your own business’: PRC defense minister to world, hours after PLAN ship rushes US destroyer

"The big strategic goal is a Chinese-led international order, a Chinese century, where the US strategic primacy has ended. The US can basically move back to the Western Hemisphere and focus on itself, which is what he was saying," Malcom Davis, China expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said.