China marks 100 years since birth of Xi Jinping's war-hero father

BEIJING (AFP): China marks the 100th anniversary Tuesday of the birth of President Xi Jinping's father, a Communist war hero, but analysts say the connection is a mixed blessing for the head of state. 

Xi Zhongxun, who died in 2002, was a military leader in northwest China during the civil war which culminated in the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, and eventually rose to vice premier.