Senior military official elaborates on China's regional security policy at Shangri-La Dialogue

SINGAPORE - A senior Chinese military official elaborated here Sunday on his country's policy, practice and proposals on regional security cooperation and governance.

In a speech delivered at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of China's Central Military Commission, called for concerted efforts by Asia-Pacific nations to maintain peace and stability in the region.

"The world today is undergoing historic changes as never before and the Asia-Pacific countries share good times and bad times together, " said the Chinese admiral in the speech themed "Strengthen Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation and Promote Regional Security Governance".

China thus advocates a new security outlook, featuring inclusive, shared and win-win security cooperation, he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently proposed that the Asia-Pacific countries should jointly build a security governance model that suits the characteristics of the region.

Sun, from the defense and military perspective, elaborated on the new governance model.

He stressed that all countries should stick to the path of peaceful development and abandon the outdated zero-sum mentality.

He suggested countries in the region promote mutual communication and learn among civilizations.

In order to lay a solid foundation for security governance, the Chinese military official also called for nations to seek mutual understanding and accommodation through dialogue and consultation.

"The jungle law goes against the trend of the times and belligerence does not make peace," said the admiral.

He propose to develop the security architecture suitable to the region and strengthen the security governance mechanism.

"The Asia-Pacific countries should refuse the Cold War mentality, deepen and expand security cooperation featuring no-conflict, no-confrontation, no targeting against a third party, mutual benefit and win-win," Sun said.

On the South China Sea issue, the Chinese admiral said the overall situation in the South China Sea has remained stable and freedom of navigation has not been affected because of some disputes.

He reiterated that China has always insisted on peaceful settlement of disputes through negotiations and consultations.

The three-day Shangri-La Dialogue wraps up on Sunday afternoon.