China hosts Iranian, Russian defence ministers

QINGDAO, June 26 (AFP): 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 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.

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun framed Thursday's meeting of officials in Qingdao, home to a major Chinese naval base, as a counterweight to a world in "chaos and instability".