China-Central Asia summit illustrates power imbalance between Beijing and former Soviet states

A man walks past an installation for the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi’an, in central China’s Shaanxi province on May 18th. Photograph: Jade Gao/AFP via Getty The closing event at the China-Central Asia summit was billed as a "joint meeting with the press" and the description was accurate insofar as Xi Jinping was joined on the podium by the leaders of five Central Asian states and the media were present. But the Chinese premier was the only one to speak, delivering a prepared statement on the outcome of the meeting with no questions from the press. It was a nice…