The man the Communist Party is busy grooming to be China’s next leader can be read in so many ways.
He is a communist “princeling,” the equivalent of royalty in the Party, born into power and privilege but who then lived in a cave.
He is a man who has spent his life in the Communist Party but who knows what it is like to be outcast.
He has convinced businessmen he is their champion, while overseeing a system where the state controls huge chunks of the economy.
He has shown himself to be irritated with foreign criticism of China but has sent his daughter to study at Harvard under a false name to hide her identity.
His wife, Peng Liyuan, a singer, has, for most of his career, been far more famous than he has.
