The 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum was held in Beijing from October 29 to 31. The forum was held offline for the first time in four years, and the number and level of participants reached a record high.
【Subtitle】What did the guests from all over the world gain from this forum? Let's take a look.
His Majesty the King of Tonga, Colonel of the Armed Forces, Sinn Ulakai
We are fortunate to have many professors, experts, ministers and high-level delegations from the Asia-Pacific region. We look forward to hearing more wisdom and experience from ministers and leaders from around the world, especially from Asia and East Asia.
【Concurrent】British guest Mike White
I think it's very useful to listen to the views of different countries. One of the particularly good ones, and the highlight for me, was the position of the Singapore Minister of Defence, who was very focused on practical applications, pointing out that we could develop a peaceful Asia-Pacific region.
【same period】Director of International Defence Cooperation, Military Forces of the Republic of Fiji, Ratu Erroni Biukula Duaibe
The plenary session of the forum was very good, very informative and very comprehensive. I believe that we will exchange information and gain more from what we have seen and heard at this forum, from face-to-face exchanges, and from mutual dialogues. I am deeply impressed by China's global security initiative. It's still in the concept stage, but I'm impressed with its content because it's very inclusive.
Director of the Belarusian Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies, Arseny Sivetsky
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, which is also a contribution of China to regional and global stability and security. Therefore, it is important to understand how China will position itself. China is a very important player on the international stage in terms of international revival. It is one of the great powers, one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. It is clear that China's position on a particular issue, crisis or conflict situation is very important.
With the help of this forum, I gained insight into China's attitude to developments in other parts of the world, including Europe, especially on the issue of the Ukrainian crisis, but not only in this region, but also in other regions. Including the Middle East, especially because of the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. We know that China has reached out to Iran and Saudi Arabia and brokered peace agreements between them. So we see that China is very active in the international arena.
Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross
I see this as a great opportunity to have a dialogue with our Chinese counterparts, the military, and think tanks and others on key humanitarian issues, to share our perspectives, and to discuss how we can strengthen our cooperation on international humanitarian law. This is definitely welcome. I think the other thing that I got out of my participation was the opportunity to discuss very important issues related to humanitarian affairs and peace with many delegations from different countries around the world. So it's invaluable.
We have seen that the Red Cross Society of China is very active and has also provided direct assistance in very difficult situations after the earthquake in Syria or Afghanistan. We have also seen that, on the humanitarian front, there is a consensus on the involvement of the governmental level, even in armed conflict, with respect for international humanitarian law, with respect for the Geneva Conventions, for the protection of civilians and for the protection of humanity.
Wen Mengxin and Dong Zeyu report from Beijing
Editor in charge: [Zhou Chi]