Chinese and Russian defence officials took swipes at the West at a military diplomacy forum in Beijing on Friday, with China courting the Global South and Russia saying the United States was shifting military conflicts to the Asia-Pacific.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun told the annual Xiangshan Forum that Beijing would enhance military ties with its neighbours and with developing countries in particular.
“Major countries must take the lead in safeguarding global security, abandon a zero-sum mindset and refrain from bullying the small and the weak,” Dong said in a veiled criticism of the United States, which he did not name.
Communications between the US and Chinese militaries have eased despite tensions over the South China Sea, Taiwan and Washington’s concerns at Beijing’s close relationship with Russia, which is at war in Ukraine.
Frictions were underscored by Germany’s defence minister confirming that two German warships had sailed through the Taiwan Strait yesterday, the first such transit in two decades and a move condemned by China.
Dong also said that “negotiation” was the only solution to conflicts such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as he addressed a global gathering of military officials in Beijing.
Top military representatives from Russia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Iran and Germany are among more than 500 delegates in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum, dubbed China’s answer to the annual Shangri-La meeting in Singapore.
Dong told the opening ceremony: “To resolve hotspot issues such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting peace and negotiation is the only way out.” “There is no winner in war and conflict, and confrontation leads nowhere,” Dong said.
Russian deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said during the forum that the US was trying to contain China and Russia while preparing for war in Asia by creating new security blocs.
“Russia and China support the creation of a just, multipolar world order based on equality and mutual respect,” he said.
Beijing is promoting itself as a responsible player in global conflicts, despite difficulties in its own backyard. This year’s forum is themed “Promoting Peace for a Shared Future”.
Some diplomats and analysts are watching for signs of further progress in the military relationship between the US and China on the fringes of the conference.
The US is represented by Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, Taiwan and Mongolia.
Chase will head a U.S. delegation for talks with Chinese military counterparts after the forum – building on defence coordination talks in Hawaii that resumed in January for the first time since September 2021, the Pentagon said.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of China’s commanding Central Military Commission, in Beijing last month and U.S. and Chinese theatre-level commanders this week held their first conference call.
Former senior Pentagon official for China Chad Sbragia told a forum session that the previously loose structure of China-US ties built over 35 years was now “threadbare”.
“We have to prioritize policy dialogues…to reframe defence relations for the conditions that we’re going to see in the next decade,” Sbragia said.
