Susan Shirk has enjoyed enviable access in China for nearly three decades. As a student visiting in 1971, she met with then premier Zhou Enlai who was so charmed he told her: “I wish Susan Shirk was president of the US.” Later, she was one of the Clinton administration’s main experts on China, including during the Nato bombing of China’s embassy in Belgrade.

Given the news every day about China’s inexorable rise, it may seem eccentric that Shirk labels the country a “fragile superpower”. It is not just the economy that seems to outstrip all the sceptics, but diplomacy as well. While Vladimir Putin’s Russia apparently revels in picking new fights, China is making friends rapidly. Border disputes with a host of neighbours have been resolved and smouldering suspicion has been turned into constructive partnerships.