It is almost impossible to open a magazine these days without seeing a headline about the new Great Game in Asia between the US, China and India. At first sight, Hillary Clinton’s visit to Burma appears to fit this script.

The trip has all the trappings of an elaborate chess game aimed at reining in Chinese influence in the region. It was announced on the same day, a fortnight ago, that Barack Obama visited the northern Australia town where US marines will be based as part of a Washington effort to challenge Chinese designs on the South China Sea.

The US move is a response to signs of domestic reform in Burma, including a decision to suspend an unpopular China-backed dam in the north of the country. China Power Investment Corporation, which was building the dam, is not only one of Beijing’s most important state-owned companies: its executives include the daughter of Li Peng, the former premier. That is quite a snub.