German media: China values Central Asia, while Europe is too late. This week, China held a summit with leaders of the five Central Asian countries. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" noticed that China has been active in the region for more than a decade. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" published an opinion article titled "Europe is Too Late (Europa ist zu spät)" on Wednesday (June 18). Author Othmara Glas straightforwardly wrote: "Beijing has long realized the importance of Central Asia. In 2013, China proposed the 'Belt and Road Initiative' in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, aiming to connect China through Central Asia to Europe. Since then, China has invested in building roads, railways, factories, and mines in Central Asia. Economically, China has become increasingly important and has even replaced Russia as the largest trading partner of Central Asian countries. At the same time, Beijing has made Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan more dependent on China." "Western countries have acted later." The short article continued: "Americans have been holding annual meetings with the foreign ministers of Central Asian countries in the form of 'C5+1' since at least 2015. Europe has long paid almost no attention to this region. It was only after Russia launched an aggressive war against Ukraine that Central Asia began to receive more attention. France and Germany have increased their involvement, and Brussels is now trying to win over Central Asian countries. At the second EU-Central Asia Summit held in April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an investment plan worth up to 12 billion euros." "Now, Europe is just catching up with a train that China started twelve years ago." Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1835383160829964/ Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.