Chinese state media are touting the China-Central Asia Summit, held on Thursday and Friday in the historic northwestern Chinese city of Xi’an, as a counter to the Group of Seven (G7) gathering of democracies in Japan this weekend, and a sharp contrast between China offering stability and financial support to its clients while U.S. President Joe Biden abandons America’s allies in the Pacific.
Xian, where the famous Terracotta Army of soldier statues was discovered in the 1970s, has deep symbolic importance to China’s agenda because it was once an imperial capital and was seen as the gateway to the Silk Road, the ancient trade route that modern China holds up as an inspiration for its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The summit was held in a complex called Tang Paradise, essentially a theme park built about 20 years ago on the site of a Tang Dynasty imperial garden from the 8th Century.
“Shaanxi, as the eastern starting point of the ancient Silk Road, has witnessed the…