Beijing Xiangshan Forum serves as vital platform for bridging perspectives on global security: Singaporean defense minister

The Beijing Xiangshan Forum has served as a vital platform for bridging perspectives on global security, Singapore's Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defense Chan Chun Sing said on Thursday, calling for efforts from countries to secure peace without resorting to force.

Chan is in Beijing to attend the three-day 12th Beijing Xiangshan Forum which opened on Wednesday.

Under the theme "Upholding International Order and Promoting Peaceful Development," the forum pooled together more than 1,800 official representatives, scholars and observers from over 100 countries, regions and international organizations.

Chan spoke highly of the role of the forum in an interview with the media following the second plenary session themed on "Strategic Mutual Trust and Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region" on Thursday.

"It is a chance not just to listen to the Chinese perspective, it's also a chance to listen to the other international participants' perspective. And through that, we also get a sense of the fierce concerns, aspirations of the people beyond China and Singapore. So I think that's very useful," he said.

"I think the general mood in the Xiangshan Forum is that I think everyone is rightfully concerned about the global security situation. And especially the smaller countries, they would want to see how we can develop mechanisms to enhance dialogue, build confidence and manage conflicts if ever conflicts, skirmishes break up," he said.

While addressing the second plenary session, Chan cited a Chinese adage, saying that the power of the strong can subdue people for a while, but the virtue of the strong can win hearts for a lifetime.

Drawing from China's long history, only by upholding the principle of aspiring for the common good, can a country earn the respect and trust of nations around the world, he said in his speech.

"I thought there're some useful wisdom in many of the Chinese saying. And I think it was also mentioned by one of the speakers that in enhancing our own security, we must not end up in a situation whereby we paradoxically cause other people to feel less secure and therein, you start off a chain reaction whereby everybody tries to become more secure, but everybody inevitably makes other people less secure, which was why I say what I say during my presentation that the greater is our capability or the greater is our power, the greater must be our effort to reassure others," Chan said.

He emphasized that building capabilities ahead of time is a necessary step in preparing for future challenges, but the ultimate goal should be to secure peace without ever having to use those capabilities.

"We build our capabilities ahead of time in anticipation of future challenges. But we'll be very happy that we will never have to review or never even have to use those capabilities, which means that we would have achieved our job of securing the peace without having to resort to force," he noted.

Beijing Xiangshan Forum serves as vital platform for bridging perspectives on global security: Singaporean defense minister

The Chinese Embassy in South Africa on Monday held an event in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital, to celebrate the launch of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.

This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries.

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng said that over the past seven decades, under the joint guidance of leaders from both sides, China-Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges have continued to expand, yielding fruitful outcomes.

Noting that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Wu said China and Africa need to uphold fairness and justice, strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance, and enhance exchanges and cooperation more than ever before.

Taking the launch of the China-Africa Year of People-to-people Exchanges as an opportunity, Wu called for upholding the original aspiration of friendship, solidifying the foundation of cooperation, enhancing two-way efforts, and accelerating the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, South Africa's deputy minister of women, youth, and persons with disabilities, said South Africa and China enjoy strong and historic bonds of friendship as close international cooperation partners in the political, economic, social, technical and multilateral domains.

"The significance of people-to-people is really about how we elevate the people's life to a just and equitable stance that we want to see. We want a better Africa; we want a better world. And that for us is significant," said Letsike.

"Through people-to-people exchanges, we promote mutual understanding, and that is the basis of building mutual trust, building peaceful coexistence. People-to-people exchange is a very important instrument for peace and mutual understanding," said Bongani Maimele, director of international relations with South Africa's National School of Government.

The opening ceremony of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges was held at the African Union headquarters on Jan 8. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides will jointly host nearly 600 cultural and people-to-people exchange activities in 2026 to enhance exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations, and promote mutual understanding and connection between the peoples.

Organizing the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is an important consensus reached by leaders from both sides at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit in 2024.

Chinese Embassy in South Africa unveils 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges