Who's the most powerful person on the planet right now? Xi Jinping, who just got a third term as boss of China's ruling Communist Party and got all his loyalists appointed to the CCP's top decision-making body.

But having so much power comes with big tradeoffs.

Zero-COVID is devastating the Chinese economy. And Xi is feeling the heat from his increasingly muscular foreign policy.

Xi's tightening grip has massive implications for China's future — and the world's, too.

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A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska as USS Spruance (DDG 111) conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released on April 19, 2026.
CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS

The US Navy isn’t just intercepting Iranian-linked ships outside the Strait of Hormuz. It’s redirecting Iranian-linked ships in Asian waters, too.