I wouldn't say 'Xiangqi' is 'Chess'.
Xiangqi is more "Chess" than "Chess".
Chaturanga > Chinese Chess
Chaturanga > Shatranj > Western Chess
Chess < Shah = King (Iranian)
Xiangqi = 象棋 = Elephant Game. 象 That's a glyph of an elephant.
Elephant Game by name and by rules.
The Elephant in Chinese chess moves 2 squares diagonally, same in Chaturanga. The Bishop.
Advisor moves 1 square diagonally, same as in Chaturanga Vizier. Queen.
No castling, no pawn promotion, stalemate is a win. no 2 steps pawn, no en passant. Same in Chaturanga.
Chinese chess is closer to Chaturanga than Western FIDE chess.
If an alien from another planet hear you speak.
You say "Chess", you're saying "Shah", you are saying "King Game".
If you say "Xianqi. 象棋. Elephant Game", it makes more sense to the alien.
King Game. Where does that game originate from? Every country has a king.
Elephant Game. Hmm. Where do they fight with elephants. Which country has a god as an elephant (Ganesh)? Hmm. India.
When you say "Elephant Game", an alien from outer space would understand "Indian Game".
Back to the main point.
The word variant chess colloquially means descendant of Western chess.
Chinese chess is a sibling of Western chess. Both are offsprings of Chaturanga.
They are siblings, not one is descendant of the other.