20240709 Xi Jinping Peng Liyuan Wei Fenghe Li Shangfu

From left: Xi Jinping, his wife Peng Liyuan, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu. There is speculation that Xi's wife has become a military adviser of sorts to her husband. (Nikkei montage/Reuters and Kyodo)

Analysis: Military purges put Xi Jinping's singer-wife in the spotlight

Speculation is rife over whether Peng Liyuan is helping Xi control China's military

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

As Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping deals with "complicated challenges" that his top military brass is presenting him, he is likely leaning more on a longtime aide, his wife, Peng Liyuan.

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