by WorldTribune Staff, September 23, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
The state of his health is the last thing the supreme leader of communist China wants the world to evaluate as he arrive in Washington, DC for his high-stakes summit with President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, with China’s President Xi Jinping at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. / Video Image
He heads the Chinese Communist Party that is laser focused at all levels on replacing the United States as the world’s hegemon, and any sign of weakness would not only be bad geopolitics but also a potentially fatal loss of face.
Xi vanished from public view after an episode during a speech by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As WorldTribune.com reported:
Modi briefly paused his BRICS Summit address on Sept. 12 to check on Chinese President Xi Jinping after appearing to notice that something was wrong.
Modi stopped and turned towards Xi, who was in India for the first time in seven years to attend the summit.
“Is it okay,” Modi asked the translator accompanying the Chinese president. He repeated the question moments later. It was not immediately clear what had caused Xi’s apparent discomfort.
Xi did not attend the gala dinner hosted by Modi for BRICS leaders on Saturday.
The mystery was not solved by the Chinese press which is not known for deviating from state-approved narratives and remained silent.
On Sept. 21, China’s state news agency, Xinhua, issued a statement that Xi would be going to Washington to see Trump, arriving on Sept. 23, and returning to Bejing on Friday, Sept. 25.
Related: Sick? Xi Jinping missed key dinner at BRICS summit putting Beijing on alert, September 15, 2026
“That item might have seemed like non-news since the dates of his visit were well known, but they appeared as almost a bulletin dispelling rumors that he might not be well enough for the summit,” noted correspondent Donald Kirk in a New York Sun report. Kirk added:
With no comment from him and no news on his whereabouts until his departure for Washington, seeing is believing. Mr. Xi will be scrutinized just as much as Mr. Trump, at 80, seven years his senior, for any sign of a faltering hand grip, a slightly hesitant walk, a slurred word. The sight of his left arm and shoulder looking a little stiff in photographs gave rise to rumors that he may have suffered a mini-stroke while in New Delhi, but there’s totally no substantiation.
Xi is the symbol of a communist party that from many accounts is failing economically and splintered internally. So how he and his entourage perform in Washington will resonate significantly worldwide and back in Beijing.
Related — Miles Yu: Don’t neglect to prepare for the collapse of a nuclear-armed Chinese Communist Party, September 20, 2026
“More than a decade on, the world’s most important bilateral relationship has followed a bumpy course,” said one Xinhua commentary. “How Beijing and Washington manage ties — and find room to work together — is increasingly consequential for both countries and the world.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily seemed upbeat: “Together, the two sides will explore the right way for major countries to coexist in the new era.”
To be sure, China’s ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng is being clear that Xi’s health is one of several topics that should either not be discussed or handled with utmost sensitivity.
“China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests cannot be violated,” he wrote in a commentary for People’s Daily about the ground rules to be followed at the Trump-Xi summit, “and four red lines — the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, development paths and systems, and development rights — cannot be challenged.”
Other taboo topics, noted Kirk, include:
Free Taiwan, the island enclave that’s technically a Chinese province but otherwise independent and self-governing.
The other is human rights, which Xi is often accused of trampling, jailing critics and dissidents while tightening his own grip on power.
While ostensibly the summit will be focused on trade-related issues, many other hot button topics could be discussed including China’s strategic support of Iran in it war with the United States.
Related: As Washington visit looms, Xi Jinping is at war with America on two fronts, September 15, 2026
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