China hosts Iranian, Russian defence ministers against backdrop of ‘momentous change’
26 June 2025(News Desk): China hosted defence ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao on Thursday against the backdrop of war in the Middle East and a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (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 Iran and Israel holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes.It is also being held the day after a summit of NATO leaders in The...









