Chinese President Xi Jinping’s sudden and unexplained absence from the public eye between 21 May and 5 June has raised many questions. It is rare for the Chinese head of state to away from public view for such a long time without any official statement. What added fuel to the fire was the silence of Chinese state media on the matter. Even more surprising was Xi deciding to skip the BRICS Summit in Brazil, again with no explanation. These unusual developments have sparked speculation – Is Xi Jinping losing control over China’s power structure? Is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) preparing for a leadership change?

Xi Jinping became the General Secretary of the CCP and Chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2012, taking over from Hu Jintao. By 2013, he had also become China’s President, concentrating power over the party, the state, and the military. Xi’s leadership style has been centralized and highly personalized—unlike his predecessors, who mostly followed a collective leadership model. He promoted the idea of “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” and has been considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

Xi also introduced major foreign policies like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), took a firm stance on Taiwan, cracked down in Hong Kong, and aggressively asserted claims in the South China Sea. On the domestic front, his government has been criticized internationally for widespread human rights........

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