First plenary session of the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum titled "International Order and Strategic Stability" is held on September 16, 2026. Photo: Feng Fan/GT

The 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum formally opened on Wednesday, with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun calling for preventing risks with historical awareness resolving problems through dialogue and consultation, and chart a course toward lasting peace and common security.

The Xiangshan Forum has come to its 20th anniversary. Since its inception, the forum has stayed true to the principle of equality, openness, inclusiveness, and mutual learning, and is always open for dialogues and different voices. Here, countries interact as equals and engage in candid discussions to build consensus and seek greater common ground. The forum has pooled wisdom to address challenges and realize peace and cooperation. he said.

He outlined six priorities: pooling consensus on a new security outlook, maintaining stability with multilateralism, preventing risks with historical awareness, resolving problems through dialogue and consultation, consolidating security foundation through common development, and deepening cooperation through concrete actions.

Facing a growing security deficit, we find that traditional security theories struggle to make sense of today's problems, and the outdated zero-sum mentality offers no way out of the current predicament. The new outlook that security should be common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable has provided us with fresh guidance, he added.

The forum's broad participation offered a practical setting for exchanges. According to organizers, around 2,000 guests, including official representatives, experts, scholars and observers from more than 100 countries, regions and international organizations, are attending.

During the plenary sessions on Wednesday, defense ministers from Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Belarus all participated in the event. Senior officials from UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, ASEAN, Russia, France and Saudi Arabia also joined the sessions.

Global Times reporters observed Iranian and US representatives attending the same discussion, while Russian and Ukrainian representatives shared the stage during a panel session.

"The Xiangshan Forum is a platform where countries can sit in the same room and have a fair and equal opportunity to speak," Al-Obaidi Ameen, a reporter for China Arab TV, told the Global Times.

That inclusiveness has enabled discussions of sensitive disputes and security concerns.

The urgency of those discussions was underscored by Jean-Pierre Lacroix, United Nations under-secretary-general for peace operations, who described the international situation as the most unsettled since World War II in a speech on Wednesday morning.

Many internal challenges are becoming internationalized and harder to resolve, with civilians suffering the heaviest consequences, Lacroix said. Political polarization is also making it more difficult for UN member states to agree on responses to crises, he noted.

Referring to Lacroix's assessment, Zhang Weiwei, director of the China Institute at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times that the severe security situation stemmed in part from forces unwilling to accept changes in the world order.

China's institutions, decision-making and considerable strength have helped ensure stability in the Asia-Pacific, Zhang said. He added that China's four global initiatives had played an important role in advancing a community with a shared future for humanity and maintaining global stability.

Citing the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Zhang said China has helped member countries turn their geographical proximity into benefits through years of cooperation. Together with China-ASEAN cooperation, this offered valuable experience for promoting peace and development, he said.

After listening to remarks from representatives of various countries, military affairs expert Zhang Chi said he was deeply impressed by the fact that "stability" has become a common aspiration of people around the world today. He told the Global Times on Wednesday that Beijing Xiangshan is a world-renowned high-level platform for dialogue and exchanges on defense and security, enabling representatives from different countries to engage in dialogue on an equal footing, express their views and seek common ground while setting aside differences, thereby building an important consensus around stability.