Xi Jinping's US visit a rare opportunity to see China's leader up close and (sort of) personal
Xi Jinping rarely bothers to glad-hand or to try charming a crowd. His public appearances in China are carefully crafted, with fawning cadres and adoring fans positioned around him.
So, when Xi landed in San Francisco this week to meet with President Joe Biden, to try to stabilize a relationship with the United States that has been spiraling downward, it provided a rare opportunity to see the Chinese leader up close and, at times, less filtered than usual.
There were a few moments when Xi turned animated — or the closest he gets to it — like when a group of Iowans he had met in the 1980s came through the receiving line at a gala dinner in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
Xi's face lit up as he greeted the man who had driven him around rural Iowa, when Xi was a young party official from Hebei province hoping to glean insights into America's agricultural technology.
Earlier, the Chinese leader had compared presidential limousines with Biden as they met on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. And he thanked Biden for reminding him that his wife, Peng Liyuan, a famous Chinese soprano and folk singer, has a birthday Monday, as does Biden.
Xi said he had forgotten because he had been working so hard.
It was hardly an extraordinary performance for an ordinary politician, or even past Chinese leaders, but Xi's appearance at the APEC summit was striking for one of the most self-contained Chinese leaders in decades, who reveals next to nothing about his personal life despite propaganda organs busily casting him as a man of the people.
The secrecy surrounding Xi has only grown more intense as he has concentrated his power by jailing and retiring political rivals and taking greater control of the
