Xi Jinping pushes global role for China

Beijing

NO part of the world seems too small, too near or too far for China's globe-trotting president, Xi Jinping.

He has travelled to the tiny Pacific islands of Fiji, toured the neighbouring nations of Central Asia and signalled his interest in Antarctica with a visit to Tasmania, off Australia's southern coast. This month, he sent Chinese warships to dock in London, a reminder of how much has changed since British gunboat diplomacy humiliated China in the 19th century.