Silk Road forum seen to boost Xi’s stature

China will seek to burnish President Xi Jinping’s stature as a world- class statesman at an international gathering centered on his signature foreign policy effort that envisions a future world order in which all roads lead to Beijing.

The Belt and Road Forum opening Sunday is the latest in a series of high-profile appearances aimed at projecting Xi’s influence on the global stage ahead of a key congress of the ruling Communist Party later this year. All feed a fundamental yearning among ordinary Chinese: to see their country’s prestige and status rise.

“Xi is now seen as a world leader with a lot of influence and respect internationally and that will definitely boost his domestic appeal,” said Joseph Cheng, a long-time observer of Chinese politics now retired from the City University of Hong Kong.

Leaders from 28 countries are set to attend, including Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. The most prominent attendee from the West will be Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

Other Western nations, including the United States, will be represented by junior officials. Washington is sending a delegation led by Matt Pottinger, special assistant to the president and senior director for east Asia at the National Security Council. Britain, Germany and France are to be represented by finance officials.

That’s partly because of developments at home, but also is a reflection of concerns that China may be exporting its standards on human rights, the environment and government transparency, while leaving poor countries with unsustainable levels of debt.

Yet the forum is as much about promoting Xi’s image at home as it is about pushing his vision abroad. Chinese state media outlets have linked Xi inextricably to the two-day gathering in Beijing, which will revolve around Xi’s plan for a vast network of ports, railways and roads expanding China’s trade with Asia, Africa and Europe.

Xi has even popped up in a series of English-language promotional videos produced by the official China Daily called “Belt and Road Bedtime Stories.”

“He’s showing vision. Leaders have to be visionary. He’s showing hope in their economic future by proposing a very significant economic plan,” former U. S. ambassador to China Max Baucus told The Associated Press. “I think it’s going to help him very much ahead of the next party congress.”

The party will hold its twicea-decade congress this fall at which Xi will oversee an infusion of fresh blood in leading bodies, including the Politburo Standing Committee.