China’s anointed leader, Xi Jinping, reemerged from the shadows Wednesday as he met with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and smiled for the cameras, quelling speculation about his health and political status. 
 
 Xi is widely expected to be declared China’s new president next month, part of a once-in-a-decade revamping of the senior Communist Party leadership. But his unexplained cancellation of meetings with foreign dignitaries and disappearance from public view in recent weeks had triggered a frenzy of rumor and gossip. 
 
 The 59-year-old Xi offered a firm, prolonged handshake to Panetta in front of Western and Chinese journalists assembled inside an ornate reception room in the Great Hall of the People.The two leaders exchanged pleasantries for about five minutes before the media was ushered away. 
 
 “It is a great pleasure for me to meet you again, Secretary Panetta, and to welcome you to China,” Xi said in Chinese, appearing comfortable and at ease as he paced across the room in a dark suit and a light-blue tie. 
 
 “It’s an honor to have the opportunity to visit with you here,” Panetta, 74, replied with a broad smile. “I appreciate all of your support in encouraging better military-to-military relations between our two countries.” 
 
 U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (L) shakes hands with China's Vice President Xi Jinping before meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sept. 19, 2012. (Larry Downing/Reuters) 
 
 Xi was supposed to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton earlier this month but was a no-show; he also canceled meetings with three other foreign leaders. The Chinese government offered no official explanation for his withdrawal from the limelight. 
 
 U.S. diplomats said they were told privately by Chinese officials that Xi was hampered by a bad back. 
 
 Other rumors included speculation that Xi had suffered a heart attack, hurt himself playing sports or been the target of an assassination attempt. 
 
 On Saturday, Xi suddenly reappeared in public when he toured a Chinese university campus, looking very much alive and light on his feet.The visit was brief, however, and the state-run media distributed only two photographs of the event. 
 
 His meeting with Panetta was the first time in nearly three weeks that he had showed up for a scheduled, public event with journalists present. 
 
 Panetta is in the midst of a three-day visit to China, the first since he became defense secretary in July 2011.In February, Panetta hosted Xi on a visit to the Pentagon, replete with an honor guard. So failing to return the favor with a meeting in Beijing would have only fueled more questions about Xi’s condition. 
 
 The son of a revolutionary leader, Xi is being groomed to take over as China’s president from Hu Jintao as part of a broader reorganization of the Politburo Standing Committee, which runs the country. 
 
 Although China has sought to project an image of stability and order during the leadership transition, that script has been undermined by intra-party feuding, including a murder-and-corruption scandal involving another Politburo member, Bo Xilai. ||||| China's future leader appeared energetic Wednesday in a meeting with the U.S. defense secretary, his first appearance with a foreign dignitary since dropping from public view and raising a flurry of questions about his health and turbulence in the succession process. 
 
 U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, sits with China's Vice President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. Panetta met Wednesday with Chinese leader-in-waiting... (Associated Press) 
 
 China's Vice President Xi Jinping gestures next to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, unseen, in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. Panetta met Wednesday... (Associated Press) 
 
 U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, has lunch with cadets in the mess hall at the PLA Engineering Academy of Armored Forces in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. U.S. Defense Secretary Panetta... (Associated Press) 
 
 Vice President Xi Jinping and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met for more than an hour to discuss U.S.-China military relations, Pentagon press secretary George Little said. 
 
 Panetta said the meeting went over the allotted 45 minutes because Xi was so focused on finding a way to improve relations. 
 
 "Frankly my impression was that he was very healthy and very engaged," he told reporters later in the day. 
 
 Video of the meeting shot by state broadcaster CCTV showed a robust-looking Xi shaking Panetta's hand, posing for photos and smiling during their conversation. The report made no mention of Xi's absence or any health issues. 
 
 While Panetta's visit comes at a sensitive time for China and its relations with the U.S. and regional neighbors, his meeting with Xi was closely scrutinized for any clues about the vice president's prolonged absence, which ended Saturday when he appeared at an event for national science promotion day. 
 
 In addition to being China's vice president, Xi is also a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission that oversees the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army, and is due to take over as head of the ruling Communist Party later this year and as president in the spring. 
 
 In keeping with its secretive one-party political system, Beijing has offered not a shred of information about why Xi was not seen in public, triggering speculation he had injured his back or suffered a heart attack or stroke. Some had questioned whether he had fallen foul of President Hu Jintao or other top leaders, reflecting continuing uncertainty surrounding the succession and lingering political fallout from the downfall of a charismatic leader, Bo Xilai. 
 
 China has not even announced dates for the congress that will install Xi and other top leaders, an event held every five years that last time began in mid-October. That has led to speculation that the party has yet to agree on the makeup of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee or even whether to reduce it in size from nine to seven seats. 
 
 Other crucial matters also remain up in the air, including what if any political reforms to embark on amid a rapidly slowing economy and growing social unrest. More than ever, finding common ground among the party's various constituencies appears to be a daunting task. 
 
 "The delay apparently does suggest anything but a smooth transition of power, namely, the extraordinary difficulty of reaching consensus on the composition of the Politburo, including the Standing Committee, as well as how to handle factional politics that has never been so acute," said Warren Sun, a China expert at Australia's Monash University. 
 
 The party has also yet to announce how it plans to handle the still-popular Bo, whose wife Gu Kailai was convicted last month of murdering a British businessman and whose former police chief and top lieutenant Wang Lijun was tried this week on charges including bribery and attempting to defect to the U.S. 
 
 Bo is widely expected to face an eventual trial, although it isn't known on what charges, and he remains under party investigation for unspecified grave violations of discipline. Harsh punishment could spark a backlash from supporters in the party, the military and among the public, while failure to discipline Bo would underscore weakness in the legal system and among the leadership. 
 
 Xi is facing "enormous hurdles to establish a highly unified leadership team," Sun said.
– Xi Jinping, the man expected to become China's new leader next month, appeared in public again today, this time to meet with Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, reports the Washington Post. Xi's sudden and unexplained cancellation of several high profile meetings, including one with Hillary Clinton, had fueled rampant rumors about his well being. But Xi appeared energetic, notes the AP, smiling and exchanging a handshake and a few words with Panetta in front of the cameras. The two met for more than an hour. "Frankly my impression was that he was very healthy and very engaged," Panetta said afterward.