An expert on United States-China relations was seen for the first time participating in a collective learning session for the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling elites.

Led by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations President Yuan Peng, the Communist Party’s 25-person politburo on Friday held the session to discuss national security issues and solutions.

Yuan has decades of experience researching issues in areas such as American diplomacy, Sino-U.S. relations, Asia-Pacific security and Chinese diplomacy. He has published more than 100 articles in an array of academic journals and major media outlets.

Analysts believed that the decision to have Yuan lead the learning session reflected the central leadership’s confusion over issues concerning the U.S.

During the session, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward 10 objectives to strengthen the nation’s safety, putting “political security” as the top priority alongside integrating national security into all aspects of party and state work, including that of economic and social development.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play