Xi Pushes to Deepen Central Asia Influence With Kazakh Visit (2)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Kazakhstan for talks with Central Asian leaders, providing a counterpoint to a Group of Seven summit by visiting a vast region at the nexus of competing interests from Washington to Beijing.

Xi, who’s making only his third overseas trip this year, met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday and will attend the second gathering of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan the following day.

The summit in the Kazakh capital Astana is taking place in parallel to the G-7 event in Canada, and comes days after US Secretary of ...