President Xi Jinping began his third term with a diplomatic blitz that bolstered his image as a global statesman. Now, he’s skipping the world’s premier international forum of world leaders — and it’s not exactly clear why.
It could be due to diplomatic sparring with India that Xi is snubbing the Group of 20 meeting in India. Or he wants to bolster the newly expanded BRICS forum. Maybe he wants to stay home to handle China’s economic troubles, with one of the nation’s largest property developers on the brink of default.