China is seeking to influence the next generation of the world’s leaders by giving young officers a platform at the country’s leading regional security forum. At the opening of a seminar for young officers and scholars at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Sunday, Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo said that China wanted to give young officers a way to have their voices heard. Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, a visiting fellow at RSIS, said the seminar had lost some focus. “There’s not many new Chinese perspectives coming out in this seminar, certainly the Chinese delegates are repeating the official lines and positions. And if they can only selectively explain things, then this is not going to deepen my understanding towards China,” Chaturvedy said. “And it should also be a two-way process, in which young scholars’ concerns and perspectives are heard by China.”