For Xi Jinping, diplomatic wins rarely come this easily: Just showing up at an Asia-Pacific summit this week would help score a victory for China.
With U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin staying away from Papua New Guinea — an economy smaller than all 50 U.S. states — Xi is by far the most prominent among 21 leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting that starts Friday.
And he's making the most of his time there, hosting leaders from about a dozen Pacific Island countries in a show of strength.