Xi Jinping, Who Once Suffered a Stroke, Going to Tibet Is Very Strange

Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Vietnam. (Reuters Images)

[People News] According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, on August 20 at noon, CCP leader Xi Jinping took a special plane to Lhasa with the Central Delegation to attend the so-called 60th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the 21st. Accompanying him were Politburo Standing Committee member, CPPCC Chairman, and head of the Central Delegation Wang Huning; Standing Committee member and Director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee Cai Qi; United Front Department head Li Ganjie; Vice Premier He Lifeng; and others.

On the very same day, the State Council Information Office held a press conference, at which Major General Wu Zeke, deputy director of the Parade Leading Group Office and deputy director of the Joint Staff Department Operations Bureau under the Central Military Commission, along with Major General Xu Guizhong, executive deputy director of the Central Theater Parade Command Office and deputy director of the Political Work Department, briefed on preparations for the parade. One confirmed detail was that Xi Jinping would inspect the troops.

With Xi set to attend the far more significant September 3rd military parade, it seems odd that he would fly to Lhasa now for a celebration that is not really essential.

Why is it unnecessary? Because in the past, for the 40th and 50th anniversary celebrations, the highest-level official sent by Beijing was only a vice-chairman of the CPPCC. For example, in September 2015, Politburo Standing Committee member, CPPCC Chairman, and head of the Central Delegation Yu Zhengsheng led the delegation for the 50th anniversary. In 2005, then-Standing Committee member and CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin led the delegation.

Even in 1995, for the 30th anniversary, the head of the Central Delegation was then–Standing Committee member and Vice Premier Wu Bangguo.

In other words, the so-called “round-number” anniversaries of Tibet’s founding do not require the CCP’s top leader to be present. Based on the past two decades, it would have been most fitting for Wang Huning to head the delegation. Another oddity: state media said Xi was leading the delegation, yet Wang Huning was named head of the delegation.

So, if Xi is not the head, then is he merely a member of the delegation? Wouldn’t it be abnormal for the CCP’s top leader to be placed below the No. 3 in the Politburo?

Take December 2019 for example: Xi led the CCP delegation to the 20th anniversary of Macau’s handover. State media made no mention of any “head of delegation,” only listing senior members. By CCP convention, if Xi himself leads a delegation, no one else can be named its head. This time, however, Wang Huning was made delegation head—does this hint that Xi has in fact already lost power?

Looking back: in July 2011, Xi, then Politburo Standing Committee member, Vice President, and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, led the Central Delegation to Tibet for the so-called “60th anniversary of Tibet’s peaceful liberation.” At that time, all members were ranked below him—including Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, NPC Vice Chairman Li Jianguo, CPPCC Vice Chairman and United Front head Du Qinglin, CPPCC Vice Chairman Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai, and CMC member and Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde. No one outranked Xi.

In July 2021, for the 70th anniversary of Tibet’s occupation, Xi again went to Tibet, but he did not attend the celebration. A month later, Politburo Standing Committee member, CPPCC Chairman, and delegation head Wang Yang attended the conference.

This time, Xi went with the Central Delegation but was not the head. That is strange. Two possible explanations come to mind:

1. Xi has actually lost supreme power, but the CCP wants to preserve his authority superficially before the upcoming Fourth Plenary Session. Thus, they simultaneously elevate and suppress him—sending him to Tibet before the parade being one such maneuver.

2. The person who went to Tibet was Xi’s double. The CCP can let a stand-in act, but it cannot make a double the official head of a delegation—otherwise, insiders wouldn’t accept it, and if exposed, it would cause an uproar.

If Xi’s real self did go to Tibet, that in itself is puzzling. It is well known that Tibet’s high altitude and thin oxygen put heavy strain on the cardiovascular system. People with hypertension or cerebrovascular disease are strongly advised not to go. As someone who has already had cerebrovascular issues, Xi is highly unfit to travel there.

Since the Third Plenum last July, rumors of Xi suffering a stroke have persisted. On August 19 last year, when Xi met with visiting Vietnamese Communist Party chief Su Linh, Vietnam’s news agency captured an image of a bald patch on the lower right side of Xi’s head, suggesting he had recently undergone cranial surgery and his hair had not fully regrown. Since then, Xi has often appeared less energetic, and state media has frequently delayed video broadcasts of him, reportedly to allow time for post-production retouching.

Unconfirmed reports claim Xi suffered another stroke during the Lunar New Year this year, and that he received treatment at Beijing’s Union or 301 Hospital, which brought his condition under control.

But strokes are notorious for high incidence, high recurrence, and high disability rates. There is no specific curative treatment, and recurrence is highly likely. In other words, for Xi—who has already suffered at least two strokes—the situation can only continue to worsen.

So why would the CCP’s power holders send such a high-risk individual to Tibet? Would Xi himself, or his family, agree to it? To counteract rumors abroad and show that Xi is not bedridden in hospital, it is not impossible that a double was sent. But naming Wang Huning as delegation head reveals an oddity. Clearly, the reality inside the CCP leadership is far from what state media depicts.