India, July 5 -- Rumours of the imminent or actual political demise of Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), President of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMS) by overseas Chinese dissidents, have been simmering in recent times.

At the heart of these rumours is Xi's unusual disappearance from public view for nearly two weeks in the month of May. Fingers have been pointed to factional rivalry between the so-called "Princeling" and once formidable "Shanghai" clique represented by Jiang Zemin and his loyalists. Some other signals that fed the rumour mill is that the May Politburo meeting, a routine fixture, did not take place. In the military realm, Xi's rem...