Xi Jinping’s mission to be China’s indispensable leader has been set in stone for some time, at least in his own head. And indeed, it is hard to see anyone in the immediate top circles around him who might emerge as even a remote threat to his position before the Communist Party is due, sometime towards the end of 2022, to hold its five-yearly Congress —  a big moment when its elite will either be changed, or reconfirmed in their roles.  Despite a rocky start to this year, the overwhelming expectation is that Xi will be granted a third term as party leader — something that was not accorded to either of his two predecessors, Jiang Zemin or Hu Jintao. There are potentially positive and negative reasons for this. Perhaps the Party is so wildly enthused by the unceasing successes of Xi’s leadership that it simply wants more of the same. Or perhaps Xi — a defensive politician of almost genius-level powers — has simply made sure that even the remotest source o