Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun opened the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Wednesday with a broad call for countries to abandon provocative acts and guard against what he described as the resurgence of hegemony, militarism and historical revisionism — remarks widely interpreted as a veiled warning directed at Japan, though neither Tokyo nor Washington was mentioned by name. "We must bear the lessons of history in mind and remain highly vigilant against all latent manifestations of hegemony, militarism and historical revisionism," Dong said, urging nations to "rally broad-based forces of justice" to suppress what he called "historical dregs."
The forum, held annually in Beijing and carefully developed over two decades into China's flagship military diplomacy platform, brings together hundreds of defence officials, diplomats and scholars from across the world. Beijing has positioned it as an alternative to Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue, using the three-day gathering to champion a multipolar world order and amplify voices from the Global South. Ahead of the formal sessions, Dong held separate meetings with defence officials from Myanmar, Brunei, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, as well as the ASEAN Secretary-General, pitching deeper military cooperation and shared security governance.
The forum is unfolding against a backdrop of heightened regional tensions — over Taiwan, the disputed South China Sea, and growing uncertainty about US security commitments to Asia — and comes just a week before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to travel to Washington to meet President Donald Trump. Western governments largely sent lower-level delegations, with the US represented by senior Pentagon official Cynthia Carras, while regional neighbours seeking to balance ties between Beijing and Washington dispatched top-level leadership, including Vietnamese Defence Minister Phan Van Giang and Malaysian Vice Defence Minister Adly Zahari. A North Korean defence ministry delegation led by Vice Minister Kim Kang Il also attended.
Relations between China and Japan have deteriorated sharply after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response — comments that drew repeated warnings from Beijing that Tokyo is seeking to revive its militarist past. A Chinese scholar at the forum went further, arguing that Japan's growing involvement in the South China Sea posed a greater long-term threat to regional stability than the United States itself.
Analysts say the forum reflects a broader Chinese strategic ambition. Rex Li, Professor of International Relations at King's College London, described Beijing as actively trying to "promote an alternative international security order and project itself as a stabilising force in world politics." While China has signalled growing interest in playing a role in resolving the conflict in the Middle East, concrete proposals have yet to materialise, underscoring the gap between Beijing's stated ambitions and its practical diplomatic engagement.