(Corrects spelling of Japanese leader’s name in paragraph 9)
By Mei Mei Chu
BEIJING, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun urged nations on Wednesday to avoid provocative acts and curb the resurgence of regressive historical trends in remarks likely to be taken as veiled criticism of Japan.
Dong’s comments at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on security come at a time of roiling regional tension over China-claimed Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea waterway, as doubt grows over traditional U.S. security commitments to Asia.
Warning that the world had arrived at a “fragile moment”, Dong called for a fresher, more equal approach to resolving international tension, but offered few specifics or direct criticism of rivals.
“We must bear in mind the lessons of history and remain highly vigilant against all latent manifestations of hegemony, militarism and historical revisionism,” he said in an opening speech.
“We must not turn a blind eye or condone such behaviour. By rallying broad-based forces of justice, we must suppress the resurgence of historical dregs and prevent them from exploiting the situation to cause harm.”
NO DIRECT CRITICISM OF UNITED STATES OR REGIONAL ALLIES
As some analysts predicted, Dong steered clear of direct criticisms of the United States or its regional allies, such as Japan, and appeared to hew closely to long-held Chinese positions.
“We must show no leniency towards provocative acts that seek to hijack the overall interests of countries in the region for the sake of personal gain or the interests of particular cliques, and we must work together to rein them in,” he added.
The comments come a week before Chinese President Xi Jin ping is expected to visit the United States for a summit with President Donald Trump.
Ties between China and Japan plummeted last year after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response.
That spurred Beijing to repeatedly warn that Japan was seeking a return to its aggressive past.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has ramped up military pressure around the island, including periodically staging war games. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty.
Some 2,000 military officers, diplomats and academics from dozens of countries are attending the three-day event set to run until Thursday.
A tightly scripted rival to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which is widely seen as a more freewheeling affair, the forum comes at a time of China’s expansion of military diplomacy.
This often takes the form of bilateral exercises that military attaches say are slowly growing in complexity.
(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu in Beijing; Writing by Greg Torode in Hong Kong; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence Fernandez)
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