Big guy talks the walk with the crowd

Addressing the Australian Federal Parliament last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping rather memorably described China as being like "a big guy in a crowd".

"In such a situation," he said, "those in the crowd will naturally wonder how the big guy will move and act, and be concerned that the big guy will push them around, stand in their way or take their place."

He was talking of course about China's rise and how other countries in the region have responded nervously and warily to that rise. But beyond conveying the immediate dynamics of China's relations with the rest of the region, his choice of image is revealing in other ways.