At a secretive gathering of the Chinese Communist party’s most senior officials, a room-full of middle aged men in dark suits convened under a gold hammer and sickle and raised their hands in unison to declare president Xi Jinping the country’s “core” leader. The meeting last October elevated Xi to a level comparable with that of the country’s revolutionary leader Mao Zedong – and demonstrated just how successful the president has been at consolidating his control of the world’s most populous country. This week Xi will travel to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for a meeting that will set the tone for one of the world’s most important bilateral relationships. Read more
