Beijing: China’s Defense Minister, Dong Jun, has called on the international community to strengthen unity and reject what he described as a dangerous slide toward a “law of the jungle” in global affairs. Speaking at the high-profile Beijing Xiangshan Forum, one of China’s most important security conferences, the minister emphasized that power politics, coercion, and bloc confrontation threaten international peace and stability.
In his keynote address, Dong warned that the world was standing at a critical crossroads. On one side, he said, lay the path of dialogue, cooperation, and mutual respect; on the other, the path of rivalry, mistrust, and domination. He criticized external military interventions and the pursuit of spheres of influence, saying such actions forced smaller nations to “take sides” and eroded the principles of fairness in the global system. According to him, when might is treated as the ultimate standard, chaos inevitably follows.
Framing China’s role as constructive rather than confrontational, the defence minister argued that Beijing’s growing military strength should be understood as a safeguard for peace. He stressed that China sought to build stability in Asia and beyond, not undermine it. The People’s Liberation Army, he said, remains committed to defending sovereignty and promoting dialogue, not to seeking expansion or dominance.
Dong also used the forum to restate China’s firm position on Taiwan. He insisted that “separatist attempts” would not be tolerated and that unification was a central element of the “postwar international order.” His comments underline Beijing’s sensitivity to what it sees as external interference in the Taiwan question, particularly by the United States and its allies.
The remarks come at a time of heightened tensions in Asia. Disputes over the South China Sea, increasing U.S. military cooperation with regional allies, and an ongoing technological rivalry between Washington and Beijing have raised fears of a new Cold War dynamic. Against this backdrop, Dong’s call for unity can be seen as both a critique of Western military strategies and a signal that China wants to be viewed as a stabilizing force rather than a disruptor.
Analysts suggest that China is seeking to reshape the global narrative about power and order. By rejecting what Dong described as the “law of the jungle,” Beijing is presenting itself as a defender of international norms while simultaneously pushing for a multipolar world in which no single power dominates. For China, sovereignty, non-interference, and respect for national independence remain the cornerstones of a just order.
As discussions continue at the Xiangshan Forum, attended by military officials and security experts from across the globe, the divide between competing visions of global security is once again in focus. Whether nations embrace cooperation or confrontation, Dong said, will determine the shape of international relations in the decades ahead.