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China hosts Russia, Iran for summit as US tensions rise
QINGDAO, China, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping will
open late Saturday a two-day regional security summit attended by Russia,
Iran and other allies confronting rising tensions with the US over trade and
Washington’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal.
Armoured vans lined the streets of the coastal city of Qingdao as world
leaders arrived Friday for the 18th annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO), a regional security bloc led by China and Russia.
Its member states also include four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics,
Pakistan and India. Iran is an observer member.
Authorities emptied an entire oceanside swathe of the city — clearing out
shopkeepers, residents and day-trippers to make way for Xi, his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and India’s Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will also attend the meeting.
The leaders will be addressed by Xi this evening at an opening banquet
from 7.45pm (1145 GMT), according to the official schedule, before taking in
a fireworks display.
The SCO meeting comes after President Donald Trump controversially pulled
Washington out of the 2015 international pact with Iran that placed limits on
its nuclear programme in return for easing economic sanctions.
Though not officially on the agenda, analysts say that one key topic of
discussion this year may focus on whether Iran will be allowed to ascend from
its position as an SCO observer to become a full member state — a
development it has sought since 2008 but has been unable to achieve while
subject to UN sanctions.
The 2015 nuclear deal lifted that barrier.
Now in the wake of the US withdrawal from the pact, “SCO members may use
granting full membership to Iran as a way to demonstrate support for (Tehran)
and the nuclear agreement,” said Dawn Murphy, professor of international
security studies at the US Air War College.
Speaking Saturday to AFP in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius, senior Iranian
official Massoumeh Ebtekar said Iran hoped European powers, Russia and China
would confirm their willingness to uphold the deal “as soon as possible
because Iran cannot wait forever.” “We have been a faithful player to this
commitment, we’ve done our best, we’ve shown our good intentions. We are
facing a very volatile region,” she said.
The tensions over Iran come as another nuclear issue dominates headlines,
with Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un preparing for an unprecedented
summit in Singapore.
– Trade and security –
Trade, investment and development cooperation issues will also feature
prominently at the SCO, Murphy said, given the climate of “rising anti-
globalisation and strains on global multilateral economic institutions”,
stoked by Trump’s nationalist “America First” policy.
SCO nations may discuss the potential of a joint free trade area, she
said, as China also pushes for participation in its Belt and Road global
infrastructure project.
“Member states of the SCO are key to the success of the Belt and Road
initiative and China’s growing influence as a Eurasian power,” said Murphy.
China may, however, be hindered from gaining robust support for its
project at this summit due to India, the only SCO member that does not
endorse it, she noted.
Regional security issues will also feature, because terrorism is the most
severe security challenge facing the SCO, according to Liao Jinrong, head of
the Chinese ministry of public security’s international cooperation
department.
“No matter what country has terrorists, we must strengthen our regional
cooperation and not allow them to affect regional security,” he told a press
conference Friday, adding that the SCO bloc had stopped “hundreds” of
terrorist acts.
The summit will boost cooperation on combating terrorism, drug
trafficking, organised cross-border crimes and cybersecurity, he said.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1408 hrs