By Xu Changze and Li Jie
BEIJING, June 22 (ChinaMil) -- National Defense University (NDU) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) kicked off the 1st International Defense Forum at its International College of Defense Studies on Thursday. The forum is aimed at strengthening military exchanges and cooperation between China and foreign countries.
Experts and scholars from military and civilian research institutions and more than 180 high-ranking foreign military officers who are currently studying in the college, totaling 400 persons, attended the forum to exchange views on major international and regional security issues.
Focusing on the theme of “new changes of war forms and operational patterns”, the forum is designed to conduct in-depth study of cases of regional wars or conflicts in the Post-Cold War world, and analyze the basic features, impacts and future trends of modern wars and combat patterns.
Deputy Minister of Defense of Republic of Macedonia Bekim Maksuti, Chief of Operational Planning Bureau of the Joint Staff Headquarters of the Pakistan Armed Forces Major General Aneeq, Danish Military Representative to NATO Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, Zhao Quansheng, professor of international relations and Chair of the Asian Studies Program Research Council at American University, retired Maj. Gen. Qiao Liang, professor of the UDU, and Maj. Gen. Chen Rongdi, senior research fellow of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, were invited to make keynote speeches at the forum.
More than 20 Chinese and foreign military officers with experiences of real battles or major military exercises, scholars and officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Delegation for East Asia made speeches on different topics.
Lt. Gen. Wu Jieming, political commissar of NDU, attended the forum and delivered the opening speech. He said: “Today we set up a platform to study warfare. While trying to have a good command of the ever changing rules of warfare, we also hope to establish better understanding and trust among militaries of various countries around the world, so that we can work together to curb wars and to eliminate wars eventually.”
The International Defense Forum is formerly known as International Security Symposium, which has been held for 16 consecutive years since 2002. After the reorganization of the National Defense University, the symposium has been upgraded to the international defense forum, with its duration extending from one to two days.
