Dong Jun adopts softer stance on US at Xiangshan Forum as Xi prepares for Trump summit
Por Dewey Sim — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement US-China relations China Military Dong Jun takes softer line on US at Xiangshan Forum as Xi prepares for Trump summit
Retired PLA colonel says defence minister’s speech signals growing confidence and lower tension with US
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Dewey Sim Published: 10:45am, 16 Sep 2026 Updated: 11:19am, 16 Sep 2026
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.
The address comes 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 – a reference to Washington’s military alliances that Beijing has long criticised as bloc confrontation.
He also called on major countries to shoulder their responsibility, and for the international community to oppose actions that involved forming exclusive blocs.
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