Asian leaders gather amid China's efforts to expand influence

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Asian leaders including the heads of China, India, and Russia gather for a summit today as Beijing tries to expand its regional influence. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members will meet in Kyrgyzstan to discuss energy and security, both of which have taken on new regional significance since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran.
The summit should offer “crucial clues to Beijing’s ambitions for a more multipolar Eurasia,” the South China Morning Post reported. Elsewhere, Pacific Island nations gathered in Palau — one of the few countries to recognize Taiwan — to discuss how to deal with an increasingly assertive China, a summit that was weakened after what analysts suspect was pressure from Beijing for several leaders to pull out.

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