On September 18, 2025, the 12th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opened at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. Professor Yu Tiejun, President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS) and Professor at the School of International Studies (SIS), Peking University (PKU), attended the forum on behalf of IISS upon invitation.

Prof. Yu Tiejun attended and chaired the first half of the first simultaneous session titled “The Victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the International Order.” Participants included Professor Robert S. Ross from Boston College and Associate of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University; Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten, Chairman of the Institute for East-West Strategic Studies (UK); Yan Xuetong, Honorary Dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University; Siswanto Rusti, Director of the National Maritime Institute of Indonesia; Miloš Balabán, Chairman of the Prague Security Conference (Czech Republic); and Li Yafang, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China International Communications Group and President of the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies. The scholars engaged in in-depth discussions on topics such as the process by which the Allied Powers planned the construction of the post-war international order during World War II, the historical evolution and lessons of the postwar international order, and the current challenges facing the international order and the international community’s responses.

The Beijing Xiangshan Forum was initiated in 2006 by the China Association for Military Science. Participants include leaders from defense ministries and armed forces of countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, representatives of international organizations, former senior military and government officials, and scholars. Guided by the principles of equality, openness, inclusiveness, and mutual learning, the forum seeks to pool wisdom, expand consensus, and enhance mutual trust through dialogue, and has become an important international platform for exchanges on security and defense. The 12th Forum, themed “Upholding International Order and Promoting Peaceful Development” aims to advance the major concepts of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the Global Security Initiative. It focuses on key trends in major regional and global security issues, responds to the international community’s security concerns, and provides developing countries with opportunities to express their perspectives on security.

Editor: Li Fangqi