China’s defence chief warns against coercion, avoids US, Japan mention

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun used the opening session of the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum to press for greater restraint among states, warning against provocative behaviour and the re-emergence of what he characterised as harmful historical trends. He framed his appeal as part of a broader call for a more inclusive approach to resolving international tensions, though he avoided direct naming of specific rivals in his address. The forum is taking place against a backdrop of heightened regional friction over Taiwan and the South China Sea, and growing questions about traditional US security guarantees in Asia. Organisers and Chinese officials are also using the event to shape messaging ahead of an expected visit by President Xi Jinping to Washington next week to meet US President Donald Trump. Ahead of and during the forum, Dong held bilateral meetings with defence officials from a number of countries — including Myanmar, Brunei, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia — and with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn. He used those encounters to outline a vision of deeper military cooperation and a shared-security framework as an immediate lead-in to the larger conference programme. The Xiangshan Forum has been cultivated by Beijing over two decades as its principal venue for military diplomacy and as a managed alternative to Singapore’s Shangri-La Dialogue. The three-day gathering brings together hundreds of military officers, diplomats and scholars and gives China a platform to advocate for a multipolar order and greater influence for the Global South. Delegations attending include a US contingent led by senior Pentagon official Cynthia Carras, higher-level defence ministers from neighbours such as Vietnam’s Phan Van Giang and Malaysia’s Adly Zahari, and a North Korean delegation headed by Vice Minister Kim Kang Il, according to state media sources. At the forum, some Chinese scholars also voiced concern about Japan’s expanding role in the South China Sea, saying it could pose long-term risks to regional stability.