Dong Jun takes softer line on US at Xiangshan Forum as Xi prepares for Trump summit

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun’s address to a defence gathering in Beijing on Wednesday carried a message for Washington but it was delivered in a notably softer, less critical tone, according to a retired senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army.

Zhou Bo, now a senior fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said Dong’s tone was “relatively mild”, even as the Chinese defence minister made veiled references to the US and its actions in the Middle East.

Dong struck a softer tone just a week before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned trip to the US and as US officials laud improved military-to-military communication between the two powers.

Beijing a force for peace, says China’s defence chief

In his speech at the Xiangshan Forum, Dong urged countries to build a new security approach based on dialogue rather than confrontation, and partnership instead of alliance, in reference to Washington’s military alliances that Beijing has long criticised as bloc confrontation.

He also called for major countries to shoulder their responsibility and said the international community should oppose actions that involve forming exclusive blocs, adding that “the causes of disputes cannot be resolved by force”.