The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum kicks off on September 12, 2024 and will last through September 14. More than 500 representatives from official delegations of more than 100 countries and international organizations, in addition to over 200 Chinese and foreign experts and scholars, attended the event. Photo: VCG

China's top security and defense forum, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, kicked off on Thursday with a series of high-end interviews on topics such as the Global Security Initiative, the Global South, the security in the Asia-Pacific and the China-US relations, as a record-breaking number of participants from more than 100 countries and international organizations gathered in Beijing under the theme of the event, "Promoting Peace for a Shared Future."

The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, scheduled from Thursday to Saturday in the golden autumn of Beijing, is being attended by more than 500 representatives from official delegations of more than 100 countries and international organizations, in addition to over 200 Chinese and foreign experts and scholars. 

More than 30 defense ministers and military chiefs will attend the meeting alongside high-ranking officials from international and regional organizations.

The number and level of participants has exceeded all previous years with increasingly wider representation, according to the event's organizer.

Multiple high-end interviews took place on the first day of the forum, not only focusing on regional security such as the security in the Asia-Pacific, China-US relations and the security in Europe, but also gave global perspectives in terms of the Global Security Initiative, the Global South and international rules. Young military officers and scholars from many countries also got a chance to hold a seminar to discuss approaches to addressing international conflicts, while leading experts had a dialogue on AI security.

It is a good opportunity to share impressions about different countries and perspectives, and to do so alongside military officials and scholars. Such chances are rare, which makes this opportunity even more important, John Richard Waters III, managing director for the China Practice at Eurasia Group and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the US, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the forum on Thursday.

Attila Demkó, head of the Centre for Geopolitics at Mathias Corvinus College of Hungary, believes China is an extremely important player in global security. 

He told the Global Times that the Beijing Xiangshan Forum will provide an opportunity to take into consideration what China is saying, including China's positions on key global issues such as the Ukraine conflict.

Agreeing with China's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, Lawrence Freeman, a political economic analyst for Africa, told the Global Times on Thursday that China's initiatives, which are to modernize and develop the economy, expand agriculture, and improve the standard of living, are essential goals that all human beings on this planet, regardless of ethnicity, religion or geographic location, strive for.

In the coming two days, the forum will convene four plenary sessions on Security Cooperation and Asia-Pacific Prosperity and Stability, Multipolarity and the Evolving International Order, Global South and World Peaceful Development, as well as International Mechanisms and Global Security Governance. 

Eight special sessions will also be convened covering security topics related to ASEAN, Northeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, China-US relations, new technologies, arms control and humanitarian crises.

Hot topics

Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun is expected to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the forum on Friday.

Multiple forum participants from home and abroad told the Global Times that the Beijing Xiangshan Forum lays importance on the Global South, as it gives smaller developing countries, viewed by China as friends, a platform to address their security and development concerns.

The forum is not only a platform for the South-South, but also South-North cooperation, observers said, as this year's event further expanded the scale of participation from developed countries and emerging powers, with European and American scholars accounting for about one third of participating foreign scholars, according to the event organizer.

When discussing security in the Asia-Pacific, China-US relations, or security issues closely linked to China in general, hot topics such as the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issue attracted particular attention from forum participants and the media.

Lieutenant General He Lei, former vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), reiterated at the forum that there is only one China in the world, the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

National reunification is inevitable, and the PLA has firm determination, strong will, powerful capabilities and effective means in resolutely defending national sovereignty, security, territorial integrity and unity, He told the Global Times, also slamming the US' arms sales to the island of Taiwan, which he said cannot change the inevitable failure of the "Taiwan independence" forces regardless of their quantity or types.

On the South China Sea issue, He pointed out that it was because of the Philippines' frequent provocative moves on Chinese islands and reefs that have escalated tensions.

With the Philippines also sending experts and scholars to the forum, it is a good chance to have more in-depth and rational discussions and further clarify China's principled positions, He said.