Analysis | Tough China trip for Obama as he tests global clout post-election

His influence at home quickly fading, President Barack Obama is looking east to China, the opening stop of a three-country tour that will test his ability to play a commanding role on the world stage during his final two years in office.

Once treated like a global superstar, Obama arrived Monday in Beijing under far different circumstances, with his most powerful days behind him.

At home, Republicans are still rejoicing at having pummeled Obama’s political party in the midterm elections, relegating Democrats to the minority in both chambers of Congress. His counterparts in Asia surely have noticed.

Upon his arrival in the Chinese capital, Obama stepped off Air Force One and onto a red carpet, where an honour guard of dozens lined his path to a waiting limousine. First up was a sit-down with President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, where Obama lived as a child.

Widodo, who was sworn in last month amid high hopes for progressive leadership, said his election showed Islam and democracy can go together, and pledged to keep fighting extremism in his country. Obama was effusive, calling his election an “affirmation of the full transition Indonesia has made to a thriving democracy and a model for the kind of tolerance and pluralism that we want to see all around the world.”

Obama suggested Widodo might even visit Washington next year. Reviving a phrase from his youth, Obama thanked the assembled reporters in Bahasa Indonesia, the country’s official language.