New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6-7, 2025, the first time he shall be missing a gathering of the leaders of the bloc of the grouping of emerging economies since he assumed leadership in 2012.
China will also be represented by Prime Minister Li Qiang and Vice Premier He Lifeng in the summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa along with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, among others, as well as the UAE. Beijing stated that Xi had a scheduling conflict and employed that to justify his absence, but the failure to use the elaborate medicalese language to explain what happened has led to a lot of discussions as to why he has not been seen in daytime in a long time. Xi has gone unmanned and unheard and unquoted on most state-run and official media such as the People Daily where he was always available to be quoted on a weekly basis.
This has brought about speculations that there must be political Intrigues within. As far as the health of Xi is concerned, the international media have been filled with speculations that Xi is a victim of a dreadfully life-threatening ailment and that he is at such a crossroads because of increasing opposition to Xi in the CCP. Leaders of foreign countries have in the past few days been visiting Beijing at the Great Hall of the People which Xi used to make his public appearances, but have received other government officials instead, further fuelling the concerns over his health.
During the fourth of July (2025), the Chinese government shocked the world by arresting the three top military officials including the head of the nuclear weapon programme of China (Liu Shiping), the navy commander (Li Hanjun) and general (Miao Hua) on corruption charges. By analysts, the removals may fall under a campaign to extinguish unrests in the People Liberation Army (PLA). According to a CNN-News18 report, the former President Hu Jintao-loyalist General Zhang Youxia, a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, is apparently quite influential, an indication that the military segment of the power structure is going to be a source of opposition to the authority of Xi.
The fact that Xi seems to be losing control is also supported by the fact that since 2019 the references to Xi Jinping Thought within the party discussions have all but disappeared, and the bloated technocrats like Wang Huning are the ones who regained popularity among the party elites. The analysis that the name of Xi has not figured in state media but rather he assigns high profile foreign responsibilities reveals that there is shifting of power in China, which was quoted by a geopolitical expert who spoke in recent reports. However, it is mere guessing since no special reasons as such were mentioned by Beijing other than the scheduling conflict.
The rumours of leadership stability in China are being ignited by the fact that Xi failed to appear at the BRICS Summit, a place where he has always hoped to be the main star. As the next opportunity of a high-profile appearance by the personification of high-profile sightings might come to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in late 2025, one should watch out closely whether Xi re-enters the society and its visibility or whether there are any other hints of wrangling politics.