Promoting talks only way out of war in Gaza, Ukraine: China DefMin
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China's Minister of Defense has stressed the importance of peace and negotiations to end conflicts globally, urging leading powers not to bully weaker states.
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China's Defense Minister Dong Jun delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 11th Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China, September 13, 2024. (AP)
Promoting peace and negotiations is the only way out of the wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, China's Defense Minister Dong Jun said during the opening address at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Friday.
"The earlier we sit down for negotiations, the sooner peace arrives on hot-spot issues," Admiral Dong said.
"The more acute the conflict, the more we cannot give up dialogue and consultation. The end of any conflict is reconciliation," Dong explained.
Although China has presented itself as a possible mediator for the conflict in Ukraine, proposing a peace plan for Moscow and Kiev, it has made no such efforts in occupied Palestine.
However, the country has hosted inter-Palestinian talks on multiple occasions, bringing together Palestinian factions in a series of meetings that produced the Beijing Declaration.
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Dong said that China and other world-leading governments have a responsibility to safeguard security and called for more equitable global governance, saying that such governments should not "bully" weaker sides.
Henry Wang Huiyao, forum attendee and founder of the Center for China and Globalization research group in Beijing, believes that Beijing presented no "rivalry spirit" to the United States in the forum.
"There was no mention of the US. There’s no rivalry spirit. There was more about the spirit of dialog, communication, and bridging differences," said Henry Wang Huiyao.
Michael Chase, a US deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, was also in attendance on Friday, amid several diplomatic exchanges aimed at managing Chinese-American relations ahead of the US presidential election, Bloomberg News reported.
Yet, the country's economic and military rise continues to face relentless attacks from the American-led Western order, as its growing influence challenges the US's grip on global dominance. The Pacific and the South China Sea have been hotspots of unarmed confrontation between China and US allies, while Washington continues to increase its military presence and bolster its allies militarily in the regions.
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