According to the official information of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, at the invitation of the Kazakh side, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun will visit Kazakhstan from April 24 to 26 and will attend a meeting of the defense ministers of the SCO member states in the country's capital, Astana.
During his visit to Kazakhstan, Defense Minister Dong Jun will not only meet with the leaders of the country's defense department, but also meet with the leaders of the Kazakh state, which shows the importance that Kazakhstan attaches to China.
While attending the SCO Summit, Defense Minister Dong Jun will deliver a speech at the summit and exchange views with the heads of delegations of relevant countries on the regional and international security situation and discuss defense and security cooperation.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun
Since its establishment, the SCO has continuously injected a steady stream of stabilizing factors into the overall peace of the regional situation, and has achieved remarkable results among its member states in the field of combating terrorism, drug trafficking and other transnational crimes. It not only maintains the security of the regional situation, but also strengthens mutual trust among member states.
China and Kazakhstan have also established a deep friendship under the security cooperation within the framework of the SCO, and the more stable the regional situation is, the more prosperous the economic and trade development, and with the continuous promotion of the "Belt and Road" cooperation, the cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has become more and more vigorous.
In 2022, the highest level of China and Kazakhstan announced the start of the next "golden 30 years" of bilateral relations, and in 2023, the trade volume between China and Kazakhstan will increase by 30%, setting a new record. And thanks to the "Belt and Road" initiative, most of the land cargo transportation between China and Europe transit through Kazakhstan, bringing tangible benefits to the people of Kazakhstan.
Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao met with high-level officials of the Kazakh side
Now, after receiving the invitation from Kazakhstan, the Chinese defense minister personally visited Kazakhstan to attend the meeting, which is not only a sign of respect for the organizers of the meeting, but also an affirmation of the importance of strengthening defense and security cooperation in the SCO. And what signals did Defense Minister Dong Jun's three special meetings this year send to the outside world?
The first meeting was in late March, when they met with visiting Cambodian Army Commander Mau Sophan and agreed to further strengthen strategic communication, make good use of cooperation mechanisms, and contribute to regional peace. The Cambodian side also thanked China for its long-term support, pledged to firmly adhere to the "one-China principle", and was willing to work with China to strengthen practical cooperation between the two militaries.
As an important partner of China in Southeast Asia, the relationship between Cambodia and China has attracted the attention of the United States, which also announced an arms embargo on Cambodia and made irresponsible remarks about China's aid in the construction of Cambodia's Ream naval base, in an attempt to pressure Cambodia to distance itself from China, but it did not succeed.
Defense Minister Dong Jun (right) meets with visiting Cambodian Army Commander Mao Sopan
In September last year, U.S. President Joe Biden visited Vietnam for the first time, and U.S.-Vietnam relations were "upgraded two levels in a row" and became a "comprehensive strategic partnership", while before that, Vietnam had only established a "comprehensive strategic partnership" with China and Russia.
The US media even boasted that "this is a manifestation of Vietnam's diplomatic turn," but is this really the case? The symbolic significance of the escalation of US-Vietnam relations is far greater than the actual significance, and Vietnam does not want to take sides between China and the United States, and because of the extensive trade cooperation between China and Vietnam, developing relations with China has always been Vietnam's top priority in handling diplomatic relations.
There is no doubt about this, and since the beginning of this year, Vietnam's high-level visits to China and a series of face-to-face commitments have been made in person, which is enough to show that Sino-Vietnamese friendly relations are stable and continuous, and will not be shaken by US coercion or inducement.
U.S. President Joe Biden visits Vietnam
It was against this backdrop that the top echelons of the Chinese and Vietnamese militaries also met, and in mid-April, Defense Minister Dong Giang met with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang in northern Vietnam, close to the border between the two countries. The two sides signed an important memorandum of understanding to establish a hotline between the Vietnamese Navy and China's Southern Theater of Operations to strengthen ties for maintaining maritime security.
The move was seen as a clear signal from China and Vietnam to the Philippines, which is also one of the "claimants" to the South China Sea, but can establish a military channel of communication with China and agree to manage possible maritime incidents.
Except for the United States' instigation behind the Philippines' backs, countries in the South China Sea have generally distanced themselves from the Philippines on this issue and believe that China can defend regional peace and stability.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun and Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang
And this third special meeting is the upcoming meeting with the leaders of the defense department in Kazakhstan. Due to the special position of Central Asia in its geographical position, the United States intends to draw the five Central Asian countries into its Indo-Pacific layout in a vain attempt to contain China and Russia.
Previously, U.S. President Joe Biden organized a high-profile "C5+1" dialogue, and also sent Blinken, the top leader of U.S. diplomacy, to visit Kazakhstan and other countries, hoping to use this as an opportunity to force the five Central Asian countries to take sides, but it is clear that the United States underestimated the strategic determination of Central Asian countries too much.
The fact that Kazakhstan has extended an invitation to China and hosted the SCO Defense Ministers' Meeting shows that for Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries, developing relations with China and even neighboring powers is the focus of diplomatic and defense cooperation at present, and the United States is doomed to fail in wooing them.