On March 19, 2022, the fourth International Forum on Security and Strategy was hosted by the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Tsinghua University in Beijing in both virtual and in-person formats. Le Yucheng, Vice Foreign Minister of China, delivered the speech “Cherish Peace, Work Together in Unity, and Pursue a Win-Win Future for the Asia-Pacific” at invitation and briefed guests from home and abroad on the video call between presidents of China and the US. Fu Ying, former Vice Foreign Minister of China and the Founding Chair of CISS, presided over the opening speech session, and Da Wei, Director of CISS, took charge of the summary session. Professors at Tsinghua University, including Yan Xuetong, Liu Taoxiong, Chen Qi, Li Bin, and CISS research fellow Li Li also attended the forum and participated in the discussion.

Le Yucheng pointed out in his speech that, on the evening of March 18, President Xi Jinping had a video call with US President Joe Biden upon request. The two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on China-US relations and the situation in Ukraine during the two-hour call.

Le said the crisis in Ukraine is undoubtedly the biggest eye of the storm at the moment. Since the crisis in Ukraine started, China has worked actively to promote dialogue for peace, voicing its support for peace and doing its best for talks. Last night, President Xi Jinping had a video call with US President Joe Biden upon request, and pointed out that China stands for peace and opposes war, advocates upholding international law and universally recognized norms governing international relations. China adheres to the UN Charter and promotes the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. All sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace. More significantly, an enduring solution to security would be for major countries to respect each other, reject the Cold War mentality, refrain from bloc confrontation, and build step by step a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture for the region and for the world.

After the keynote speech, Le answered questions raised by the forum participants.

The International Forum on Security and Strategy is one of the core forums of the CISS and has been successfully held in January 2019, 2020, and 2021. The fourth forum was themed “The Changing Asia-Pacific: United or Divided?” and was structured in five thematic sessions: “Asia-Pacific in a Volatile Global Landscape” “Hot Issues in Asia-Pacific” “Cooperation in Asia-Pacific: Future Opportunities” “China-US in Asia-Pacific” and “The Way Forward”. More than 60 guests from China, the US, Germany, Russia, Australia, South Korea and Cambodia among other countries exchanged views on these topics.