In less than three weeks, Mr Joe Biden, who was vice-president of the United States when Mr Barack Obama fashioned the rebalance to Asia, takes charge of the nation. At his side will be America’s first woman vice-president, who is of Asian and African-American descent.

Known, liked, and with experience so lengthy that if you put him in a room with two dozen Asian leaders he will have something interesting and informed to say about each of their countries, Mr Biden comes better prepared for office than almost any other American president in a century.