The American delegation to the Xiangshan Forum, a major Chinese security conference in Beijing, will be led by Cynthia “Xanthi” Carras, the US principal deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, the South China Morning Post has learned.
This year’s Xiangshan Forum, the 13th edition of the event, will be held in Beijing from next Tuesday to Thursday.
Carras’ attendance marks a higher level of American participation than last year, when Washington sent a defence attaché from the US embassy in Beijing.
The forum is often seen as Beijing’s counterpart to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia’s premier security forum.
It comes weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to pay a state visit to Washington, following US President Donald Trump’s trip to China in May, when the two sides sought to stabilise bilateral relations.
At the forum’s opening ceremony on Wednesday, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun is expected to deliver a keynote speech on China’s security position.