Jammu, July 10 -- 'It doesn't look as if any sensible, worldly wise, person is in charge in China.'

'If at all anybody is in charge, it can only be a bunch of bumpkins of whom Xi has become a puppet,' observes B S Raghavan, the veteran civil servant.

The textbook answer is Xi Jinping.

He has shored up all powers and positions of authority so that he is the supreme overlord of the country.

He has made himself the president of China virtually for life.

He is the general secretary of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Without calling it as such, he has, in the name of undertaking crusades against corruption, non-performance and the like, carried out a purge of his rivals and opponents.

He has...