China has organised a two-day summit with five Central Asian countries in what has been perceived as a bid to expand its sphere of influence in Central Asia - while Russia is busy with its war against Ukraine.
President Xi Jinping is hosting the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for a two-day summit in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, China.
The summit began on Thursday evening, almost coinciding with the G7 summit in Japan.
Both the host nation and its guests took the opportunity reiterate their approval of the "One China" - i.e. anti-Taiwan - policy.
Sources: PAP, SKY News, Axios
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