Qingdao . China convened top defence officials from Russia, Iran, and other key allies in the eastern port city of Qingdao on Thursday, underscoring its efforts to position the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a strategic counterweight to Western military alliances, particularly NATO.
The high-level meeting took place against the backdrop of renewed global turbulence — including the fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel, and a recent NATO summit in The Hague where member states committed to ramping up defence spending under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun opened the summit by warning of growing international instability. He denounced rising unilateralism and protectionism, saying they were fueling global disorder. “Hegemonic, domineering, and bullying acts are severely undermining the international order,” Dong said, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.
He called on fellow SCO members to intensify collaboration in safeguarding peace and stability. “We must take stronger, united actions to ensure a secure environment for peaceful development,” Dong urged.
Qingdao, the summit’s host city, is home to a major Chinese naval base, emphasizing the military dimension of the gathering. The event brought together defence leaders from SCO member and observer states, including Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and Belarus.
On the sidelines of the summit, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov praised the depth of China-Russia relations, describing them as being at “an unprecedentedly high level.” He noted that the partnership between Moscow and Beijing continues to expand across multiple domains, from defence to diplomacy.
“Friendly relations between our countries maintain upward dynamics of development in all directions,” Belousov stated.
China has consistently presented the SCO — a bloc originally founded by China, Russia, and several Central Asian states — as a multilateral platform for non-Western countries to coordinate on issues ranging from security to science and trade. In recent years, Beijing has sought to expand the group’s influence as a balance to Western-led coalitions like NATO and the G7.
Although China has publicly taken a neutral stance in Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, Western governments have criticized Beijing for providing economic and diplomatic lifelines to Moscow. While stopping short of supplying weapons, China has maintained high levels of trade with Russia and echoed several of Moscow’s narratives in global forums.
Thursday’s summit reflected growing convergence among countries critical of Western military interventions and policies, with China aiming to deepen strategic alignment across Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.
As the world’s geopolitical landscape continues to fracture, Beijing’s hosting of this SCO defence meeting underscores its ambition to shape alternative frameworks for security and cooperation — ones that challenge the dominance of U.S.-led institutions.
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