Beijing hosts Iran, Russia defence czars

SCO meets as Nato boosts spending

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China hosted defence ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao yesterday against the backdrop of war in the Middle East and a summit of Nato countries in Europe that agreed to boost military spending.

Beijing has long sought to present the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs and has pushed to strengthen collaboration between its member countries in politics, security, trade and science.

The Qingdao meeting of the organisation’s top defence officials comes as a fledgling ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes.

It is also being held the day after a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) leaders in The Hague, where members agreed to ramp up their defence spending to satisfy US President Donald Trump.