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Beijing Xiangshan Forum and the new global security landscape

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North Korea's Vice Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Hyong Ryong speaks with Venezuela's Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China, 25 October 2018 (Photo: Reuters/Thomas Peter).

In Brief

The 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum (BXF), renamed from the Xiangshan Forum this year, was held from 24–26 October 2018, with over 500 delegates from more than 70 countries and international organisations. Started in 2006 by the China Association for Military Science, since its 6th edition in 2015 the BXF has been held jointly with the China Institute for International Strategic Studies.

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The BXF is often compared with the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), the regional security forum convened annually in Singapore by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. The BXF has indeed learned from the SLD and other security forums, and is in the process of building itself up to be an analogous, China-led platform for dialogue and cooperation on global defence and security issues.

The theme of the 8th BXF was ‘Building a New Type of Security Partnership of Equality, Mutual Trust and Win-Win Cooperation’. At the opening ceremony, a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping was read by Minister of National Defence Wei Fenghe, which underlined the BXF’s rising significance in China’s defence diplomacy.

Xi’s letter described the forum as ‘a major platform for international security and defence dialogue’ that has ‘played a positive role in promoting security discourse, mutual trust and cooperation in the Asia Pacific region since its inception’. He called on participants to ‘build consensus, contribute to a new form of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and work together to build a brighter future for mankind’.

While Wei described Xi’s letter as an expression of China’s willingness to increase strategic trust and security cooperation with countries around the world, he also issued a strong warning to countries that challenge China’s ‘core interest’ in Taiwan. He said: ‘If anyone ever tries to separate the island of Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will take resolute action, and we will pay whatever price that has to be paid’. Wei also directly criticised the United States for damaging China–US relations of late.

Among the forum’s participants was — for the first time— a delegation from North Korea led by Vice Minister of the People’s Armed Forces Colonel General Kim Hyong Ryong. He spoke at the opening plenary session after a speech by Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Ng raised several important issues in his speech, such as ASEAN centrality, the South China Sea Code of Conduct, the increasing geopolitical significance of the Indo-Pacific and non-traditional maritime threats like piracy. The first ASEAN–China maritime exercise also coincided with the forum, which could become a regular feature of future editions. Such an addition to the agenda would broaden the nature and scope of the BXF, and further advance China’s regional security interests.

Selected participants also visited Chinese state-owned defence company NORINCO’s exhibition centre and were briefed on its integrated defence systems and logistic solutions. NORINCO, in addition to exporting arms abroad, provides more than 80 per cent of the weapon systems of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. This addition to the forum’s agenda could become a valuable tool for China to expand its arms market.

The BXF could also offer a security framework with ‘Chinese characteristics’ to support Xi’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI is the defining feature of China’s economic outreach to overseas partners, and it is an attempt — like the BXF — to create an international environment conducive to China’s continuing development.

The BXF’s significance is growing steadily, both as a platform for international dialogue and as a conduit for Chinese defence diplomacy. The organisers are improving the quality of the forum through their incremental innovations edition-by-edition. Attention and support from China’s top leadership indicate that the BXF is pivotal to Chinese defence diplomacy and Beijing’s goal to develop a new global security architecture through which it can articulate its own narrative. Although the BXF seems set to outsize the SLD in the future, it is more likely that both will co-exist in the emerging global security landscape.

Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy is a Visiting Fellow in the Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He participated in the Young Officers and Scholars Seminar at the 2018 Beijing Xiangshan Forum.

A version of this article originally appeared here on RSIS.

One response to “Beijing Xiangshan Forum and the new global security landscape”

  1. The increasing centrality that is being accorded the “Indo Pacific” region calls for unprecedented scholarly analysis and comment–particularly by independent and imaginative thinkers who are indigenous to this region. Australia is a major player and has long claimed, as it continues to, hegemony in this region–the South – west Pacific islands and beyond. New Zealand is a less player on this stage than Australia but both Australia and NZ are tied to the apron strings of the US. The so called ‘Indo-Pacific’ thrust now includes India. No small part of that thrust is based on, and derived from, a “containment of China” thread. Australia is revamping its domestic security arrangements and tightening up plans for playing the role of an imperial power amongst the islands from P-NG to Tonga. Much of the scholarly work that has been done in, and on, the Pacific islands has been done by euro-centric students of the region. The time has come for a massive change of direction.

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