General Chang Wanquan, State Councilor and Minister of National  Defence, addressed the Fifth Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on November 21, 2014. The main points of his speech were:

- The Chinese civilization is one of the oldest in the world but was subjected to the unrelenting aggressions of foreign powers, which made the Chinese give great credence to the adage, “We should not rely on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him.” Therefore, China is firmly determined to promote the modernization of its national defense and armed forces and effectively safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests;

- military modernization serves China’s practical need to secure its own territory. China has also particularly  not yet fully realized national reunification, which places the Chinese military under heavy pressure in securing the country and its border areas. There is therefore a pressing need for China to strengthen its national defense and armed forces. 

-military modernization provides a more effective safeguard to China’s economic and social development as well as its expanding overseas interests. Nonetheless its military modernisation has kept to reasonable levels; 

-In recent years, the threats of terrorism, separatism and extremism have mounted, in addition to new challenges to the security of sea lines of communication. Accelerating the modernization of national defense and armed forces will enable China to come up with a better response to the various security challenges in collaboration with other countries. -

-China has dealt with sensitive disputes in an appropriate fashion. It has set up 64 border defense force meeting venues along its land borders; China and India have jointly implemented their Border Defense Cooperation Agreement to maintain border peace and stability; the Chinese Navy has conducted 16 joint patrols in the Beibu Gulf with the Vietnamese Navy; China is exploring the possibility of opening a defense hotline with the ASEAN countries; and recently, China’s Ministry of National Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense signed two memorandums of understanding on Notification of Major Military Activities Confidence-building Measures Mechanism and The Rules of Behavior for Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters. 

-China has established defense and security consultation and dialogue mechanisms with 26 countries. In recent years, China has held more than 80 joint military exercises and training sessions focusing on areas such as anti-terrorism and disaster relief with more than 50 countries; and

-China believes that peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region should be put at the top of the agenda.