8 years ago
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Missing Chinese Leader Reportedly Appears In Public
China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping appeared in public on Saturday
for the first time in about two weeks, visiting a Beijing university in
what appeared to be an effort to dispel rumours of serious illness and a
troubled succession.
In a brief English-language report, the Xinhua news agency said Vice
President Xi "arrived at China Agricultural University Saturday morning
for activities marking this year's National Science Popularisation Day".
A single picture on the government's website (www.gov.cn) showed Xi,
with a slight smile and wearing a black informal jacket over a white
shirt, walking around the university.
Reuters had reported that Xi was likely to make an appearance on Saturday.
Sources have told Reuters that Xi hurt his back while swimming
earlier this month and that he had been obeying doctors' orders to get
bed rest and undergo physiotherapy.A Reuters reporter at the university saw a man with sleek black hair
wearing a white shirt -- who from a distance looked like Xi -- getting
loud applause as he stepped out of the building housing an exhibition
and raised his arms up and down twice in a gesture of vigour.
There was a light security presence around the university, but a
building housing a science exhibition was closed off by police and plain
clothes guards.Hundreds of students applauded, some shouting "Vice President Xi" or even "President Xi".
A roar went up when his car rushed by and Xi waved his hand out the window.
"It was him for sure," said one student, who had taken a blurry shot
of the car on his smart phone. "He must be better." The student refused
to give his name.The news spread rapidly on China's popular Twitter-like microblogging
site Sina Weibo, with users referring to Xi as the "crown prince" to
avoid the usual censorship associated with the names of top leaders.
"He looks well," wrote one user.
"In the future he should take better care when he goes swimming," added another.
Xi had been out of the public eye for almost two weeks and had
skipped meetings with foreign leaders and dignitaries, including U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Chinese government officials repeatedly refused to say what had
happened to him, fuelling speculation that has included Xi supposedly
suffering a heart attack, a stroke, emergency cancer surgery and even an
attempted assassination.
The health of the country's leaders has long been considered a state secret in China.
The ruling Communist Party's refusal to comment on his disappearance
from public view and absence from scheduled events was in keeping with
its traditional silence on the question of the health of top leaders,
but it had worried or mystified most China watchers.
Xi had last appeared in public on Sept. 1. He pulled a back muscle
while swimming shortly before Clinton arrived on an official visit on
Sept. 4, the sources had said, forcing him to scrap a meeting with her
the next day and also with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Beijing has yet to announce formally a date for the party's
five-yearly congress, at which Xi is tipped to replace Hu Jintao as
party chief, although it is still expected to be held in mid or late
October at the earliest.
In March next year, he is formally to take over the reins of the world's second-largest economy.
The uncertainty surrounding Xi's absence has had no impact so far on
Chinese or foreign markets, which have been absorbed by Europe's debt
crisis and China's own economic slowdown. But investors have been
keeping a close eye on the mystery surrounding Xi, after months of
political drama in China.
Senior leader Bo Xilai was suspended from the party's 25-member
Politburo in April and his wife convicted of the murder of a British
businessman. Blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escaped from
house arrest in April and took refuge in the U.S. embassy before leaving
for New York.
In another scandal this month, a senior ally of President Hu was
demoted after sources said the ally's son was killed in a crash
involving a luxury sports car.
source:HuffightonPost
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