"This is one of the few moments during her husband's term of office where what she does matters a small amount to world politics. She should be in California." Communist Party bosses had seen the meeting as a golden opportunity to deploy Peng Liyuan's much-vaunted charms on the world stage in a bid to spin a more favourable image of China's leaders, after a decade with the stiff, protocol obsessed former president Hu Jintao in charge.