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All eyes were on Beijing as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 18th Party Congress ushered in the Xi Jinping era, forcing Pyongyang to cede the title of most-watched transition in the communist world, and leaving Kim Jong Un no longer the newest ruler of an authoritarian state in East Asia. Xi, along with his six fellow Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) members, will lead a rising China during arguably the most challenging 10-year period since Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening, which set China on its current path. The new Chinese leadership is tasked with navigating through daunting challenges of official corruption, growing socioeconomic inequality, mounting social unrest and a need to rebalance the economy, among a host of other problems. Beyond these pressing issues at home,...