Secretary-General of World Peace Forum Yan Xuetong (R) is on a press briefing on July 6, 2016. (Xinhua/Du Baiyu)
China will discuss the South China Sea issue as well as nuclear non-proliferation with domestic and foreign experts and politicians during the upcoming 5th World Peace Forum (WPF), said Secretary-General Yan Xuetong at a press briefing on Wednesday.
Although global military conflicts have become less common and the scale of military conflicts has generally decreased in this day and age, regional security issues have been increasingly serious in the first half of 2016. It is regional security issues that most endanger international security, according to Yan.
Conflicts in the South China Sea will become more complicated after the result of the South China Sea arbitration is released, added Yan in the briefing. Yan also said that the recent Brexit decision brings uncertainty to the cooperation between European countries on the issue of security.
Apart from the South China Sea issue and nuclear non-proliferation, the forum will also touch on hot topics including the Belt and Road Initiative, relationships between leading powers and anti-terrorism, Yan said.
The 5th WPF will be held on July 16 and 17 in Beijing. The theme of this year's forum is "The Order of Common Security: Cooperation, Inclusiveness, and Open-access." The forum will include mass discussions for the first time, in addition to keynote speeches, panel discussions and press conferences.
A Chinese state leader will attend the opening ceremony. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs will unveil more details later.
As of now, five former foreign state leaders have confirmed their attendance, including Dominique de Villepin, former prime minister of France; Yukio Hatoyama, former prime minister of Japan; Javier Solana de Madariaga, former EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy; Shaukat Aziz, former prime minister of Pakistan; and Andrei Kokoshin, former secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
