Missing in Action

Tracking when Xi Jinping disappears.

Occasionally General Secretary Xi Jinping (习近平) disappears from view. And once in a while, that triggers mucho craziness on X – rumors of everything from an assassination attempt to hospitalization.

A few of the most infamous instances…

During September 1^st-15^th 2012, weeks before taking the General Secretaryship. On September 1^st Xi spoke at the opening-term ceremony of the Central Party School.^[1] Study hard, nurture noble ideals, live frugally, remain loyal servants of the people Party, that type of thing.

After that it was crickets from the Crown Prince until he rocked up at China Agricultural University for ‘National Science Popularisation’ day on September 15^th.^[2]

Reuters was guided that he’d sustained a back injury, possibly sustained while swimming.^[3] The New York Times passed along rumours of an assassination attempt and a mild heart attack.^[4] My favoured explanation – which in hindsight holds up, I think – is that he spent the two weeks holed up with his team preparing appointments and strategy. Alternatively, perhaps the thought of having to meet Hilary Clinton was just too much.

Closer to the present day, there were ten days in September 2022, between meeting the Iranian president on September 16^th, and showing up again on September 27^th at a museum.^[5]

Xi was also ‘Missing in Action’ for 18 days in August 2024. On August 1^st he led a study session on military defense, and then we only saw him again on August 19^th when he met Vietnam’s General Secretary.^[6]

And most recently, in 2025, he was last seen on TV visiting Henan during May 19-20^th 2025^[7]and then only turned up again on June 4^th meeting his Belarussian soulmate Lukashenko^[8] and then on June 6^th ‘receiving (接受)’ the Panchen Lama, both in Zhongnanhai (中南海), an unusual place at which to host.^[9]

And yet despite all these absences and rumors, Gen Sec Xi seems healthy, un-couped and still very much in charge.

So, let’s think a bit harder about when we should start panicking about a few days of him going MIA. Thankfully, it’s relatively easy to track his physical appearances thanks to official media’s attentive gaze. This chart shows absences of ‘proof of life’ for ten days or more.

‘Proof of life’ is him making a physical appearance that is captured on camera. There is one obvious weakness with this method; it ignores any telephone calls he makes or big meetings he attends that are 1. Reported but 2. Do not carry a photo/camera shot.

I assume it would be, for example, quite hard for a phone call with a foreign leader to be faked. So as a result, in practice Xi has fewer (and sometimes shorter) absences from official duties than this chart suggests. I’m going to refine my method, but for the moment I think this is good enough to share and use to track him.

As you can see, occasionally vanishing from view is normal, as others have noted.^[10] He often takes a rest around Chinese New Year (10-12 days), in August for a beach holiday (some 20 days), and then around the October celebrations (10-14 days). It is clear that COVID in 2020 had an impact on his appearances too.

My working rule of thumb is that an absence of more than 14 days outside these three holiday periods is worth monitoring and looking into. Otherwise, leave the guy alone; he has mucho stuff going on.

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^[1] ‘中共中央党校举行秋季学期开学典礼 习近平讲话(图) [The Central Party School of the Communist Party of China Held Its Autumn Semester Opening Ceremony, with Xi Jinping Delivering a Speech (Photo).]’, Xinhuashe [新华社], 3 September 2012, https://archive.ph/632Is, https://news.sohu.com/20120903/n352195214.shtml.

^[2] ‘习近平参加全国科普日活动 强调普及食品健康知识 [Xi Jinping Attends National Science Popularization Day Activities, Emphasizing the Dissemination of Food Health Knowledge]’, Sina News, 15 September 2012, https://archive.ph/WInsX, https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2012-09-15/153925180943.shtml.

^[3] James Pomfret, ‘China Official Confirms Xi’s Absence Due to “Sport Injury”’, Reuters, 19 September 2012, https://archive.ph/LB5bp, https://www.reuters.com/article/world/china-official-confirms-xis-absence-due-to-sport-injury-idUSBRE88I0F3/.

^[4] Ian Johnson, ‘Communist Leader’s Absence Sets Off Rumor Mills in China’, New York Times, 10 September 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/world/asia/xi-jinping-chinas-presumptive-new-leader-mysteriously-absent.html.

^[5] ‘习近平在参观“奋进新时代”主题成就展时强调 踔厉奋发勇毅前行团结奋斗 夺取中国特色社会主义新胜利 [During His Visit to the “Striving for a New Era” Themed Achievements Exhibition, Xi Jinping Emphasized the Need to Forge Ahead with Determination and Unity to Achieve New Victories for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.]’, Xinhua Web [新华网], 27 September 2022, https://archive.ph/JFAvv, http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2022/0927/c64094-32535347.html.

^[6] ‘习近平同越共中央总书记、国家主席苏林会谈 [Xi Jinping Holds Talks with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of Vietnam]’, People’s Daily [人民日报], 20 August 2024, https://archive.ph/AfRWa, http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0820/c64094-40302130.html.

^[7] ‘坚定信心推动高质量发展高效能治理 奋力谱写中原大地推进中国式现代化新篇章 [Firmly Confident in Promoting High-Quality Development and Efficient Governance, We Strive to Write a New Chapter in Advancing Chinese-Style Modernization in the Central Plains.]’, People’s Daily [人民日报】, 21 May 2025, https://archive.ph/v6igM, https://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2025/0521/c64094-40484261.html.

^[8] ‘习近平会见白俄罗斯总统卢卡申科 [Xi Jinping Meets with Belarusian President Lukashenko]’, People’s Daily Web [人民网], 5 June 2025, http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2025/0605/c64094-40494190.html.

^[9] ‘习近平接受班禅额尔德尼·确吉杰布拜见 [Xi Jinping Received a Visit from the Panchen Lama, Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen.]’, People’s Daily [人民日报】, 7 June 2025, https://archive.ph/0YHcH, https://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2025/0607/c64094-40495994.html.

^[10] Jin Zhe [金哲], ‘中共二十大报道：习近平“失踪”式统治术的来龙与去脉 [Coverage of the 20th CPC National Congress: The Origins and Development of Xi Jinping’s “Disappearance” Style of Rule]’, VOA, 31 January 2026, https://archive.ph/IMBMx, https://www.voachinese.com/a/ccp-chief-xi-jinping-s-leadership-by-absence-101122/6784960.html.