Tokyo/Sydney | China has signalled it will buy more liquefied natural gas from Papua New Guinea as part of a wider power play by President Xi Jinping to use the Winter Olympics as a platform to isolate his Western critics and bolster Beijing’s influence in the Pacific.

In a flurry of face-to-face meetings on the sidelines of the Games in Beijing, Mr Xi also held talks with the leaders of Argentina, Singapore, Poland and Pakistan, where he offered the incentive of closer economic co-operation in exchange for their diplomatic support.