Where is Xi Jinping? Absence fuels rumors about the Chinese head of state

First, there was a surprise at the BRICS summit in August in South Africa, when Chinese President Xi Jinping attended At the last minute He canceled his speech and asked the Minister of Commerce to read the text instead. He has been photographed before with other heads of state Prepare dinner. Beijing usually tries to avoid mistakes in such important international events. And now Xi completely missed the G-20 summit in India this weekend.

Guesses about the causes

China experts were astonished by Xi’s behaviour. One expert told The Guardian that he had not been seen in public for a long period in August, describing him as “a bit strange”. There was no formal justification in each case, which has led to many speculations about the causes.

Regarding the absence of the G20 summit, experts assume that this may be related to the tense relationship with India. On the other hand, it has already been reported that Xi is suffering from a brain aneurysm, a life-threatening bulge in an artery. However, he has to refuse the operation and instead relies on traditional Chinese medicine, as reported by the German Editorial Network.

Did you play into India’s hands?

Searches for the health of the head of state in China have been banned. And in the one-man system he established, he must show no weakness. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping’s absence from Delhi may have been to Indian President Modi’s advantage, as Corriere della Sera commented: “Xi Jinping’s absence has drawn attention to Modi, who sees the summit as evidence of an assessment of Delhi’s new global status quo. The Indian leader is in China’s shadow, so he can present himself as the ideal mediator between North and South.

However, newspaper NZZ sees China’s absence from the G20 as a signal that the country wants to take a tougher course towards the West: “China no longer participates in the world order dominated by the United States of America. (…) This is the message it sends Xi to the world not to travel to attend the meeting himself (…)”. For President Xi, who sees China as “the leader of a new multilateral world order,” it is clear that the Forum is no longer a high priority.

With materials from DPA

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