Dong Jun adopts softer stance 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 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. 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”.

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