KUALA LUMPUR/HANOI/PHNOM PENH -- Chinese President Xi Jinping returns to Beijing on Friday after his highest-profile tour of Southeast Asia, a five-day, three-country visit laced with both symbolism and strategic calculation.
As Pax Americana ends, China moves swiftly to fill regional void

Vietnamese General Secretary of the Communist Party To Lam, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping review the guard of honor at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, the first stop on Xi's five-day, three-nation Southeast Asian tour. © Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR/HANOI/PHNOM PENH -- Chinese President Xi Jinping returns to Beijing on Friday after his highest-profile tour of Southeast Asia, a five-day, three-country visit laced with both symbolism and strategic calculation.