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Good morning,

Rumors about the health of Chinese leader Xi Jinping are nothing new, but they resurfaced with a vengeance after journalists noted that the 73-year-old scheduled more rest breaks than usual during his recent trip to the White House. The chatter reminded me that, whether Xi serves another year or another decade, the question of succession “shapes political choices well before leaders finally relinquish control,” as Tyler Jost and Daniel Mattingly wrote last year. In their essay, Jost and Mattingly discuss the qualities Xi’s replacement will need to “survive a political knife fight”—and how the drama of a power transition could spill outside China’s borders. 

Until next week,

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