Xi Jinping's Absence and Military Purge Fuel Speculation of Power Shift in China

The recent absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping in the 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, second to none in 12 years, along with a military purge, has sparked world speculations of his health, control as well as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stability. It was the first summits Xi missed in more than ten years, and it was attended by the Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Beijing gave the reason of a scheduling conflict, but there is also suspicion that there is more severe political chaos involved.

The influential leader who is considered to be the most powerful Chinese leader since and before the Mao Zedong Era Xi has not been seen in public or has been seen in two short video messages since June 4. This vanishing is coupled with the reports that indicate a massive purge in the People Liberation Army (PLA). Top-ranking generals are dismissed, placed in prison or reported dead mysteriously and these include Xi loyalists such as General He Weidong and Admiral Miao Hua.

• Xi Jinping’s BRICS No-Show and Military Purge Spark Power Shift Speculation in China
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There are unverified posts on social media that as many as 39 senior-level officers, including three admirals, have been ousted, a development that calls into light the control of the military by Xi.

The purge is in the wake of a June 30 Politburo meeting where Xi unveiled new rules to regularize CCP decision-making institutions, viewed by some as an effort to divest or lay the groundwork to transmit authority. Such analysts as Victor Shih of the University of California San Diego, indicate that Xi is possibly moving away to daily control and more into larger concerns, but others such as Gordon Chang believe his absence suggests a loosening of his grasp of control as he is replaced by deputy officials such as General Zhang Youxia and technocrat Wang Yang.

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The economic issues that China is facing such as a U.S tariff war on a total of 440 billion in exports and, the crumbling housing market, further provide pressure on the leadership of Xi. The missed appearance to the BRICS Summit which is one of the main platforms of Chinese influence abroad has gotten its whispers of a health crisis or a rebellion.