With 153 of its citizens on board the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, China has thrown its full weight behind the multi-national search.

But it has come up empty-handed, and the trying process of working with Malaysian authorities in the investigation has revealed the limitations of China's power, influence, and military capability in the region, despite its surging military spend and the perceived threat it poses to the United States strategic dominance in the Asia-Pacific.

Not that you could tell through the China's state-run media coverage.