ASTANA Chinese President Xi Jinping met Central Asian leaders at a summit in Kazakhstan on June 17, his second trip to the region in under a year as Beijing competes with Russia for influence there. The summit in the Kazakh capital brings together Xi and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The five countries of Central Asia have courted interest from major powers including China and the United States since becoming independent. The region is rich in