China’s intensive military diplomatic activities highlight cooperation
Close defense ties ‘protect against external instigations’
China on Thursday announced even more military diplomatic activities with neighboring Asian countries following the country’s defense chief’s attendance of the ninth ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) this week, in a move experts said will bolster trust, cooperation and joint defense capability in the region, and which will build immunity against external instigations and fears that a Ukraine-like crisis could happen in the Asia-Pacific in the form of the Taiwan question or the South China Sea issue.
At the invitation of the Bangladesh Navy, the Chinese Navy will send the destroyer Changsha to participate in the International Fleet Review scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in early December and participate in related celebration activities.
The armed forces of China and Laos will hold the third friendly border defense exchange in their border region in late November, announced Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry, at a regular press conference on Thursday.
The 33rd joint patrol between the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command and the Vietnam People’s Navy will get underway in the Beibu Gulf from Thursday to Friday, Wu said.
These announcements came only a day after Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe attended the 9th ADMM-Plus in Cambodia and delivered a speech in which he called for world solidarity and fairness instead of hegemony and division, and called on countries to practice the Global Security Initiative and work together to build a solid barrier for universal security.
Southeast Asian countries are China’s good neighbors and partners, and having military cooperation is in line with all countries’ security interests, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.
China’s military diplomatic activities are efforts to promote cooperation that will build closer security ties which will contribute to regional peace, stability and prosperity, the expert said.
Cooperation will also build immunity against countries from outside the region, particularly the US, which is attempting to hook in countries around China to join its ranks in containing the country, and splitting the Asia-Pacific region in the process for its own hegemonic interests, the expert said. There are fears that the US is attempting to create an Asian version of the Ukraine crisis using the leverage of the Taiwan question or the South China Sea issue, he said.