CSTO Defence Ministers Speak at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum

The 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum has begun in Beijing. This year’s forum is being held on October 29–31, gathering representatives from 90 countries, including CSTO Member States. About a third of the delegations are represented at the level of defence ministers and chiefs of general staff.

Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Central Military Council, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. The main theme of the event is Common Security, Lasting Peace.

The Armenian delegation to the forum was headed by Defence Minister Suren Papikyan. He took part in the opening ceremony and plenary session of the forum.

Speaking at the forum, Viktor Khrenin, Head of the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Belarus, called on all responsible independent countries to think about resetting the international treaty system to increase transparency in the military sphere, preserve parity of military forces, while simultaneously ensuring disarmament to the level of defence sufficiency.

“The growing level of militarization, the unrestricted growth of military power creates an illusion among regional states that all problems can be solved by force. The logic here is simple: amid transforming world order, when geopolitical centres of power are involved in uncompromising confrontation with each other, a local conflict will not be noticed by the international community. Accordingly, there will be no reaction from international security organizations,” said Viktor Khrenin.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, speaking at the forum, said that Russia would continue military and military-technical cooperation with interested countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including supplies of equipment and joint exercises.

At the same time, Sergei Shoigu stressed that activities as part of military-technical cooperation were conducted in accordance with national and international legislation and were not directed against third countries.

Colonel General Ruslan Zhaksylykov, head of Kazakhstan’s defence ministry, also took part in the forum.

As you may recall, the first Xiangshan Forum was held 17 years ago. It is organized by the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences and the China Institute of International Strategic Studies.