China Hosts Xiangshan Defence Forum Against Backdrop of Regional Tensions

China has opened the annual Xiangshan Forum to outline its global security aims amid tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea and doubts about U.S. commitments to Asia.

China’s Defence Minister, Dong Jun launched the three-day event with a fresh pitch for closer international cooperation in a multipolar world.

Dong’s speech follows recent statements from Xi calling for greater representation for Global South countries in international affairs.

Hundreds of military officers, diplomats and scholars from dozens of countries are expected to attend the forum.

Some Asian envoys and analysts said overt Chinese criticism of the U.S. and its Western allies could be tempered because of President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Washington, the U.S. capital later this month to meet President Donald Trump.

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However, Japan could be an easier target given current tensions between Beijing and Tokyo.

Singapore-based Chinese security scholar, James Char said he expects the Chinese host to use the platform to highlight Japan’s wartime past and criticise Tokyo’s “remilitarisation.”

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, Xi stated “The domination of international affairs by a few is an injustice left over from history, and global governance dictated by one, a few or a bloc of countries is not true multilateralism.”

Taiwan’s military recently conducted drills to practice fighting a Chinese invasion. Neither government recognises the other, and China views the democratically governed island as its own territory.

Singapore S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Char said this presents a good opportunity for foreign defence delegates to meet potential members of the next generation of PLA leaders.