Central Asia: China Is Winning. Friday’s Edition.

The five “stans” that may decide global power. Series 25 #3

In September 2022, Xi Jinping made his first foreign trip since the start of the pandemic. He flew to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to meet Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, before going on to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan. In Astana, Xi promised China would “strongly support” Kazakhstan’s sovereignty and t…