China’s top security conference about ‘clarifying positions’ – not solutions, experts say
This week’s Xiangshan Forum in Beijing is unlikely to lead to progress on conflict prevention or measures to ease regional tensions, analysts say
Beijing is expected to seek further military communication with Washington on thorny issues like the South China Sea as it hosts a security forum in the Chinese capital, but analysts expect tensions to persist.
The three-day Xiangshan Forum – China’s premier annual security conference which is seen as Beijing’s answer to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore – will be held from Thursday to Saturday.
According to the Chinese defence ministry and state media, the forum will be attended by more than 700 participants and official delegations from more than 90 countries, including defence ministers and chiefs of general staff.
“The number and level of participants has exceeded all previous years with increasingly wider representation,” the defence ministry said last month.
A full list of those taking part has not been released but defence chiefs from Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos are expected to attend.
