The Xi’an Declaration, issued after the First China-Central Asia Summit at Xi’an on May 18-19, takes a direct hit at the West’s interference in the region. It also contradicts the notion in Washington and Brussels that Russia and China’s dominance on the Central Asian steppe is not sustainable

The new “5 Plus 2 axis” with China, Russia, and five Central Asian countries will have its own mechanisms and projections, which differ from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union community

The China-Central Asia Summit, which took place in Xi’an on May 18-19, was every bit a geopolitical event as much as the G7 summit in Hiroshima