Xi Jinping’s Strange India Trip—and the Security Chief Sitting Beside Him

So let's now talk about the awkward scenes in New Delhi. Let's start with what actually happened on the ground. Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi on September 12th for the summit, and this was not a normal state visit. He was not invited for a separate official visit to India, so he did not receive the kind of high-level reception he normally gets on a major foreign trip. Just by comparison, last time he went to South Africa for the BRICS summit, he was personally welcomed by the South African president at the airport. So from the moment he arrived in India, the trip looked awkward. Now, his frustration may have started the moment he stepped off the plane. The Indian official sent to receive him at the airport was only a junior minister from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. But when Putin arrived at the same airport, India sent its foreign minister to greet him. That difference in protocol was hard to miss. Then came another strange moment when Xi Jinping arrived at the summit venue. After he got out of his car, an Indian official briefly greeted him and guided him toward the entrance. His interpreter tried to follow behind him, but an Indian security officer stopped him. So Xi Jinping ended up walking toward the venue alone. In the video, he appeared tired and walked awkwardly slow. And when he entered the venue, he looked around as he approached Modi to take the official photo. When the two shook hands, Modi pointed toward a mural and appeared to explain something to Xi. But Xi Jinping didn't have his interpreter with him. For a few seconds, he looked unsure how to respond. Then an Indian interpreter stepped forward to help. Now, by itself, it could simply have been a small protocol problem. But then there was another moment. During Modi's opening remarks, Xi Jinping was seated to Modi's left. And then Modi paused to look in that direction, in Xi Jinping's direction, and asked, is it okay or is he okay? So let me play you that clip. And then, after this opening remark, there was the dinner. On the evening of September the 12th, Modi hosted a dinner for BRICS leaders. Xi Jinping did not attend. Instead, Foreign Minister Wang Yi went in his place. Again, Indian media speculated Xi might not be feeling well. Now, for years, Beijing has tried to present itself as the voice of the global South. At the summit, Xi Jinping again talked about protecting the common interests of the global South. And he once again tried to position China as the country that can organize the developing world against Western dominance. But here's the problem. Most BRICS countries don't necessarily want to join an anti-American bloc, certainly not India. Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, and UAE, and Ethiopia all have their own interests. They may want more independence from the West, but that does not mean they want to follow Beijing into confrontation with the United States. Xi Jinping promoted China-led artificial intelligence cooperation. He called for BRICS members to participate in an AI cooperation organization promoted by his government. India, meanwhile, is pushing its own technology and AI agenda. India also organized an innovation expo, and Modi used the summit to make a much bigger political statement. And he made clear that India wants to play a leading role. Beijing has spent years trying to speak for the global South, but India is saying, now we can lead too. Xi Jinping arrived in India wanting to project Chinese leadership. Instead, he found himself facing a host country that was openly presenting itself as an alternative center of power. Now let's talk about the Xi-Modi meeting, because that's probably the most important part of Xi Jinping's trip. And according to Xinhua, Xi Jinping told Modi that China and India should be partners, not rivals. He also said the two countries should support each other under their respective BRICS presidencies. But when you compare the Chinese and Indian accounts of the meeting, they sound noticeably different. Xinhua said the Indian side told China that its position on Taiwan and Tibet had not changed. It also said India would not allow anti-China activities on Indian soil. And Xinhua said India thanked China for supporting this year's BRICS summit, and will fully support China when India hosts BRICS next year. But India's own statement emphasized different things. India stressed three principles, mutual respect, mutual understanding, and mutual benefit. It also emphasized peace and stability along the border. It raised the issue of structural trade imbalances. It raised supply chain concerns. And it said the two sides needed to address each other's concerns. So the Indian's account of the meeting does not sound like a breakthrough in bilateral relations. It sounded more like two sides trying to manage a difficult relationship. I must say this, even though the bilateral meeting didn't produce much results, the most revealing part of Xi Jinping's trip to India indeed came from that meeting. Because sitting at the negotiation table with someone who shouldn't have been there in the first place. Take a close look at the Chinese delegation during Xi Jinping's meeting with Modi. There was a man whose name is Zhou Hongxu. So most viewers would not recognize him, but his position is extremely sensitive. He is the director of the Central Security Bureau, the very agency responsible for protecting Xi Jinping and other top leaders. So in simple terms, he is the head of Xi Jinping's security apparatus. Now it's completely normal for the head of his security team to travel with him. Of course he would. What is not normal is what happened in India. So Zhou was not standing in the background. He was not waiting outside the room. He was sitting directly at the diplomatic negotiation table and not somewhere at the end. He was seated between Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Assistant Foreign Minister Honglei. Now think about the protocol. India was the host country. Inside the official summit venue, India was responsible for security. If Xi Jinping brought his own security chief into the formal negotiating room and seated him at the table, it could look as if China did not trust India's security arrangements. That would be diplomatically awkward. To understand Zhou Hongxu's appearance, let me bring you a better picture of him. There he is. So there he was in his military uniform, and the man to his right, the man closer to us, was his predecessor, Wang Shaojun, who died mysteriously after leaving that post. So let's take a look at Zhou Hongxu's background. He did not come up through Xi Jinping's own political network. His military career was closely connected to the old 14th Army, and that matters because there is a man, there's a name, there's a guy who had very deep roots in the 14th Army, and that guy is Zhang Youxia. Zhang Youxia joined the military in 1968 and served in the 40th Division of the 14th Army. Now, Zhou Hongxu also came from the 14th Army. He rose through operational and staff positions and later became commander of an artillery regiment under the 40th Division. Zhou Hongxu and Zhang Youxia came from the same old military network, and in Chinese military, this is very important. And then in July 2021, Zhou Hongxu became director of the Central Security Bureau. As far as how he got the job, there is an account circulating online, and according to that account, Zhang Youxia was the person who recommended Zhou to Xi Jinping. Now, the timing was right before the 20th Party Congress. It was a time when Xi Jinping's relationship with Zhang Youxia was still very close. Xi needed Zhang's support to keep the PLA firmly behind him as he prepared for a third term or controversial third term. At the same time, Xi Jinping reportedly did not fully trust his existing security team. So he asked his most trusted military general, Zhang Youxia, to recommend someone from the military who could take charge of his personal security. And Zhang Youxia recommended General Zhou Hongxu. The Central Security Bureau protects China's top leaders. It also controls access around them. So during any serious political struggle, control of this organization becomes extremely sensitive. And this is where the overseas speculation becomes much more political. First of all, Zhang Youxia has now been removed by Xi Jinping and is gone. Many people believe that he has already died. He died. So here's the question. Why does Zhou Hongxu, the man reportedly recommended by Zhang Youxia, still remain in such a sensitive position? If Xi Jinping no longer trusted Zhang, why would he continue to trust the security chief? Of course, like anything related to CCP politics, there are two competing interpretations. The first is that Zhou Hongxu betrayed Zhang Youxia and may even have played a role in Zhang Youxia's downfall. And according to this theory, Xi Jinping rewarded him with greater political status and a more visible role. But other commentators argue the opposite. They say this explanation does not make sense because Xi Jinping is famously suspicious of people who betray their formal patrons. If Zhou indeed betrayed Zhang Youxia, then there's no way Xi Jinping would use him and then get rid of him because he does not trust anyone who betrays their formal boss. So the second theory becomes that Zhou didn't betray Zhang Youxia and may have been placed around Xi Jinping by other forces inside the party to act as an internal monitor. In that interpretation, Xi Jinping's bodyguards are not just bodyguards. There are also surveillance cameras installed by his opponents. They do not just protect him physically. They watch him closely. Again, there's no official confirmation of this, but the timing is important. China is approaching another major party meeting in October. Political tension has been building and suddenly a security chief with deep ties to Zhang Youxia's old military network is sitting inside one of Xi Jinping's most important diplomatic meetings. That is very difficult to ignore. Okay, so after the BRICS summit, Beijing published a Chinese summary of the New Delhi Declaration. The full declaration had 139 paragraphs. The Chinese summary was much shorter. Now, summaries are supposed to be shorter. That's normal, but what Beijing left out is more interesting. Here's a list of things Beijing avoided. I think it tells you something, right? Why Beijing avoided these things. It left out much of the language praising India's leadership of the summit. It also removed language dealing with racism, religious discrimination, hate speech, disinformation, and misinformation. You wonder why. It left out strong language condemning terrorism, including the 2025 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. It also omitted sections discussing illegal financial flows, terrorist financing, money laundering, cybercrime, corruption, and illegal virtual assets. Other deleted material dealt with drug trafficking, space security, malware, data security, deep fakes, and critical mineral supply chains. You wonder, right? So when you look at the pattern, Beijing clearly presented a much narrower version of the summit to the Chinese public. Well, let's put all of this together. Xi Jinping went to India for the BRICS summit, but he did not receive a full state visit. His airport reception was limited. His interpreter was briefly blocked. Modi appeared to ask whether he was okay twice at the opening ceremony. Xi Jinping skipped the leaders' dinner. He also skipped the summit's business forum. He held very few bilateral meetings. In fact, the only one he held was the one with Modi. His meeting with Modi produced no obvious breakthrough. India openly challenged China for influence inside BRICS. And then sitting at Xi Jinping's negotiating table was the head of his bodyguards, Zhou Hongxu, a man whose presence raises questions about Xi Jinping's own political position, internal political position. And then Beijing returned home and presented a heavily shortened version of the summit's declaration to the Chinese public. Xi Jinping did not look like a leader arriving in India from the position of overwhelming strength. Instead, he looked very constrained. Constrained by India, constrained by competition inside BRICS, constrained by his health, perhaps, and constrained by changes inside his own political system. And that's why I think General Zhou Hongxu's appearance may be the most important image from that entire trip. 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