Sizing Up China's Next Leader No Easy Task

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta talks with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the Pentagon, Feb. 14, 2012. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Sizing Up China's Next Leader No Easy Task, WikiLeaks Cables Show -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — During his visit to the United States this week, China's heir apparent, Xi Jinping, appeared personable to American audiences and resolute to audiences back home.

But how well the Obama administration got to know the man who's expected to rise to China's presidency next year is uncertain. The public appearances were carefully scripted to allow Xi to show a warmer, folksier side than current leader Hu Jintao exhibits in public. Xi's private time with Vice President Joe Biden was, well, private.

But State Department cables that WikiLeaks published last year underscore how difficult it can be to glean meaningful information about China's political elite.

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My Comment: I have been following him for the past few years, but when I heard him say the following in Mexico in 2009 .... that is when I realized that he had a good shot at being the next President ....

..... "There are some well fed foreigners who have nothing better to do than point fingers at our affairs," Xi said during a lunch meeting. "China does not, first, export revolution; second, export poverty and hunger; third, cause troubles for you."

Blunt and to the point .... stressing very clearly that what you do in your country is your business, and what we do in our country is our business. My hope is that when he becomes President, he will stick to his word.