ASEAN, China to discuss strengthened defense ties

BEIJING - Defense officials and scholars from China and ASEAN member countries will gather in Beijing on Monday to discuss strengthening defense and security ties.

The second-round China-ASEAN dialogue meeting on defense and security, scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, will include discussions on the security environment in the Asia-Pacific in the context of the global financial crisis, ASEAN's security mechanism and defense cooperation with China, and non-traditional security cooperation between China and ASEAN, according to people familiar with the meeting.

Since last March, the meeting has been upgraded to include defense officials from the two sides.