BACKING FOR IRAN?
Recent fighting between Israel, Iran and the United States was also likely discussed in Qingdao.
Beijing refrained from offering anything more than diplomatic support to its close partner Tehran throughout that conflict, reflecting its limited leverage in the region and reluctance to worsen relations with the United States.
“Public backing for Iran will come in the form of words, rather than deeds,” James Char, an expert on the Chinese army at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told AFP.
“Other than condemning the US strikes on Iran, Beijing can be expected to continue treading cautiously in the Middle East’s security issues and would not want to be dragged into the region’s security challenges,” he said.
Iran’s defence minister will likely “discuss with China the supply of weapons but I doubt China would agree”, said Andrea Ghiselli, an expert in China foreign policy and a lecturer at Exeter University.
“It would be seen as provocative by both Israel … and, even more important for China, the US, with which Beijing is trying to stabilise relations,” Ghiselli said.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also in attendance in Qingdao, said SCO members should “collectively aspire to fulfil the aspirations and expectations of our people as well as tackle today’s challenges”.
“The world we live in is undergoing a drastic transformation. Globalisation, which once brought us closer together, has been losing momentum,” he said in comments his office posted on social media.
“As momentous changes of the century accelerate, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise,” Dong said as he welcomed defence chiefs from Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus and elsewhere on Wednesday, according to state news agency Xinhua.
“Hegemonic, domineering and bullying acts severely undermine the international order,” he warned.
He urged his counterparts to “take more robust actions to jointly safeguard the environment for peaceful development”.
Meeting Dong on the sidelines of the summit, Belousov hailed ties between the two countries as being “at an unprecedentedly high level”.
“Friendly relations between our countries maintain upward dynamics of development in all directions,” he said.
