China is hosting defense officials from across the world for its flagship military diplomacy conference this week \u2013 a key opportunity for Beijing to promote its alternative vision for global security that has also underscored its increasing alignment with Moscow against the United States. <\/p>\n
More than 30 defense ministers and military chiefs, as well as lower-level representatives from dozens more countries and organizations, including the US, gathered for the three-day Xiangshan Forum in the Chinese capital. <\/p>\n
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was given prominent billing as the first visiting official to address the forum Monday, where he and China\u2019s keynote speaker both took aim at what they see as a failed US-led security system. <\/p>\n
Noticeably missing from the line-up was China\u2019s own defense minister. <\/p>\n
Beijing last week announced it had removed defense minister Li Shangfu from his position, without naming a replacement or providing an explanation for the sudden demotion \u2013 the latest in a series of high-level shakeups under Chinese leader Xi Jinping. <\/p>\n
The Xiangshan Forum \u2013 billed as an opportunity for countries to resolve differences regarding defense and security issues \u2013 also comes amid heightened concerns about the potential for the Israel-Hamas war to spiral in a wider regional conflict and as Russia continues its onslaught on Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Beijing has tried to project itself as a potential peacemaker in both conflicts, as it aims to cast itself as a player in global security amid heightened tensions with Washington. <\/p>\n
That bid has drawn skepticism from governments in its own region and the West, given its aggression in the South China Sea and intimidation of Taiwan, as well as its backing of Russia despite its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Both conflicts, however, were only briefly mentioned in a keynote address from top Communist Party military official Gen. Zhang Youxia, who repeated China\u2019s calls for a \u201cpolitical resolution\u201d for the \u201cUkraine crisis\u201d and the \u201cIsrael-Palestine conflict.\u201d <\/p>\n
Zhang, who is vice chairman of Central Military Commission\u00a0\u2013 a powerful body headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping who ultimately commands China\u2019s armed forces \u2013 instead focused his address on hailing Xi\u2019s \u201cGlobal Security Initiative\u201d as a solution to global conflict \u2013 while making veiled jabs against the United States, which he did not directly name. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur world is overshadowed by the dark cloud of cold war mentality and we must avoid falling into bloc confrontation,\u201d Zhang told his audience, using language typically employed by Beijing to criticize Washington and its allies. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf a country only cares about its own interest it will perceive everyone else as a rival, if it is obsessed with suppressing others with different opinions it will surely cause conflicts and wars in the world,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Zhang, who ranks higher than defense minister, also said countries should instead focus on \u201ccommon security\u201d and respecting each other\u2019s paths of development \u2013 key tenants stressed in Xi\u2019s security initiative, which the leader announced last year.\ufeff <\/strong> <\/p>\n The general also said Beijing would \u201cshow no mercy\u201d against any moves for Taiwan independence, referring to the self-governing island China\u2019s ruling Communist Party claims as its own. <\/p>\n China would continue to \u201cdeepen strategic coordination\u201d with Russia\u2019s military, and it was willing, Zhang added, to develop China-US military relations. <\/p>\n His speech was followed by a pointed address by Russia\u2019s Shoigu \u2013 a key architect of Moscow\u2019s faltering invasion of Ukraine that still rages 20 months on in what is Europe\u2019s fiercest fighting since World War Two. <\/p>\n During his speech Shoigu accused NATO of \u201ccovering its real intention\u201d to increase its presence in the Asia-Pacific and of promoting an arms race in the region, echoing China\u2019s typical talking points. <\/p>\n \u201cTo maintain its geopolitical and strategic dominance, the US is deliberately undermining the basis of international security and strategic stability, including arms control, and undermining the legitimate rights and interests of Russia for its own security,\u201d Shoigu said. <\/p>\n Security coordination between China and Russia has tightened in recent years amid rising tensions between each with the US and its allies. Beijing has repeatedly said it will not provide lethal aid to Russia\u2019s war effort, but has continued to participate in joint military drills and other security coordination, while providing a key lifeline for the Russian economy since its invasion of Ukraine last year. <\/p>\n The Russian defense minister\u2019s appearance followed a visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing earlier this month, where he took the place of prominence next to Xi at the leader\u2019s Belt and Road Forum. <\/p>\n The security forum also comes as the US and China are attempting to navigate their contentious relationship that includes frictions over Taiwan and Beijing\u2019s aggression in the South China Sea. A potential meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden in the United States next month is seen by both sides as an important opportunity to stabilize ties. <\/p>\n Beijing severed high-level military dialogue with Washington last August in retaliation for a visit from then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. <\/p>\n Its officials have declined American outreach for high level meetings, in what was widely seen as a protest against sanctions Washington placed on former defense minister Li in 2018, prior to his time as defense minister, for weapons purchases from Russia. <\/p>\n Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said at a regular press conference last week that Chinese officials would \u201chave exchanges\u201d with the US delegation. <\/p>\n \u201cChina attaches great importance to the development of military relations between China and the United States,\u201d Wu said at the time, adding he hoped for a \u201cfavorable atmosphere for the healthy and stable development\u201d of their military relations, according to state media. <\/p>\n The forum was attended by a delegation from the US defense department led by Xanthi Carras, China country director in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense. <\/p>\n\n China is hosting defense officials from across the world for its flagship military diplomacy conference this week \u2013 a key opportunity for Beijing to promote its alternative vision for global security that has also underscored its increasing alignment with Moscow against the United States. More than 30 defense ministers and military chiefs, as well as <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Increasing alignment with Russia<\/h2>\n