THE visit last week by President Xi Jinping to the United States was significant on many levels. It will take months, perhaps years, to fully gauge its implications, but it is not too soon to make some preliminary remarks.
While the main focus was on the fact that it was a full scale state visit with all the trappings, the programme actually comprised three legs: a high-profile meeting with US business leaders in Washington State; the formal state visit in Washington DC including meetings with President Barack Obama; and a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.