While Donald Trump emerged triumphant from the NATO summit after brokering a fragile Middle East ceasefire and cowing Europe into spending more on their militaries, there was another defence summit half a world away that got nowhere near the attention.
In the seaside city of Qingdao, China’s defence minister Dong Jun was hosting his counterparts from Iran and Russia. They were there for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, but recent events had exposed their partnership as far less formidable than feared.
Andrew TillettForeign affairs, defence correspondentAndrew Tillett writes on politics, foreign affairs, defence and security from the Canberra press gallery. Connect with Andrew on Facebook and Twitter. Email Andrew at andrew.tillett@afr.com
Jessica SierNorth Asia correspondentJessica Sier is the North Asia Correspondent for The Australian Financial Review. She is based in Tokyo, Japan. Jessica has previously written on technology, global capital markets and economics. Connect with Jessica on Twitter. Email Jessica at jessica.sier@afr.com
