By Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese and Russian defence officials took swipes at the West at a military diplomacy forum in Beijing on Friday, with China courting the Global South and Russia saying the United States was shifting military conflicts to the Asia-Pacific.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun told the annual Xiangshan Forum that Beijing would enhance military ties with its neighbours and with developing countries in particular.
"Major countries must take the lead in safeguarding global security, abandon a zero-sum mindset and refrain from bullying the small and the weak," Dong said in a veiled criticism of the United States, which he did not name.
Communications between the U.S. and Chinese militaries have eased despite tensions over the South China Sea, Taiwan and Washington's concerns at Beijing's close relationship with Russia, which is at war in Ukraine.
Frictions were underscored by Germany's defence minister confirming that two German warships had sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the first such transit in two decades and a move condemned by China.
Dong made his remarks to representatives from 90 countries and international organisations at the three-day forum, which ends on Saturday.
He said regional countries should "seek strength through unity and rely on themselves for their own peace".
Russian deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said during the forum that the U.S. was trying to contain China and Russia while preparing for war in Asia by creating new security blocs.
"Russia and China support the creation of a just, multipolar world order based on equality and mutual respect," he said.
"In order to create conditions to force Russia into negotiations based on Kyiv’s formulas, NATO countries plan to send troops to Ukraine," he added. "This is a dangerous game which can lead to a direct conflict of nuclear powers."
NATO says it has no plans to send troops to Ukraine. Kyiv accuses Russia of trying to impose its own conditions for peace on Ukraine, and seeks a Russian withdrawal and the restoration of Ukraine's 1991 post-Soviet borders.
Beijing is promoting itself as a responsible player in global conflicts, despite difficulties in its own backyard. This year's forum is themed "Promoting Peace for a Shared Future".
CHINA-U.S. MILITARY TIES
Some diplomats and analysts are watching for signs of further progress in the military relationship between the U.S. and China on the fringes of the conference.
The U.S. is represented by Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, Taiwan and Mongolia.
Chase will head a U.S. delegation for talks with Chinese military counterparts after the forum - building on defence coordination talks in Hawaii that resumed in January for the first time since September 2021, the Pentagon said.
With recent South China Sea skirmishes between China and the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, expected to feature in the talks, another Chinese military official expressed confidence during the forum that Beijing would be able to deter Washington from getting involved.
"If a clash occurs between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, this will never trigger conflict between China and the U.S.," said Lieutenant General He Lei, former vice president of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of China's commanding Central Military Commission, in Beijing last month and U.S. and Chinese theatre-level commanders this week held their first conference call.
Former senior Pentagon official for China Chad Sbragia told a forum session that the previously loose structure of China-U.S. ties built over 35 years was now "threadbare".
"We have to prioritize policy dialogues...to reframe defence relations for the conditions that we're going to see in the next decade," Sbragia said.
(Reporting Laurie Chen in Beijing; additional reporting by Beijing and Moscow newsrooms; writing by Greg Torode; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Gerry Doyle and Timothy Heritage)
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