Authors: Bo Ma and Zishu Li
Date: 14.10.2025
The People’s Republic of China and Southeast Asian states have a long-standing history of defence cooperation dating back to the 1990s. China’s participation in the 24th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in 1991 marked the initiation of ASEAN-China political-security dialogue.[1] This partnership deepened with the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding on Non-Traditional Security, paving the way for collaborative efforts to combat transnational threats such as drug trafficking and terrorism.[2] Other significant milestones include the inaugural ASEAN-China Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting in 2011, which has since been held annually, as well as China’s membership in the ADMM-Plus, where it engages in defence dialogues, military exercises, and expert training programmes with ASEAN member states and other ADMM-Plus partners.
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