Newsweek: Beijing won the race and expelling Washington from Central Asia
The Newsweek magazine reported on Wednesday, that China is seeking, during the China-Central Asia Summit, which will be held on Thursday, to strengthen its position in Central Asia.
Newsweek said, “China is gaining a new foothold in Central Asia and pushing the United States out of it”.
The two-day meeting is scheduled to begin in the Chinese city of Xi’an, where President Xi Jinping will meet his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The Chinese president’s participation is a high-level participation for the Chinese leader at a time when Beijing and Washington are grappling for global influence.
According to Niva Yao, a journalist at the Global China Center of the Atlantic Council, “This summit is the first Chinese summit on Central Asia, so it shows regional unity and consensus towards China and Russia”.
“I think the Central Asian countries have made up their minds and lined up with China and Russia,” Yao told Newsweek.
According to Newsweek, the summit comes just one week after the heads of all Central Asian countries traveled to Moscow to attend the Victory Day celebrations marking the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in World War II.
The China-Central Asia Summit will be held in the Chinese city of Xi’an from the 18th to the 19th of this month.
