11-14C
Cloudy start, but sunny spells later

Find a...

Date Job Car Home












Rumours fly over China’s ‘missing’ leader in waiting

China’s top leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping, who has set off a storm of rumours after not showing up at scheduled public events for more than a week, is nursing an ailment, possibly a back injury suffered while swimming, sources said.

Xi, who is due to take over the presidency of the world’s second-largest economy in March next year, has skipped several meetings with visiting foreign leaders and dignitaries over the past week, including US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the prime ministers of Singapore and Denmark.

China’s government, however, has declined to spell out what is ailing Xi, 59 — in keeping with decades of official secrecy over the health of senior leaders.

“Xi injured his back when he went for his daily swim,” a source close to the Beijing leadership said, after Xi’s absence from the public stage was first noticed last week. By then, he had failed to keep meetings with Clinton and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The source declined to give further details on the injury, including exactly when and where the incident took place.

Another source also said the injury happened when Xi went swimming.

“Xi pulled a (back) muscle when he went swimming,” the source said.

A third source, citing people close to Xi, said: “He’s unwell, but it’s not a big problem.”

All three sources spoke on condition of anonymity. The lack of an official explanation has fuelled internet speculation surrounding Xi’s condition, and brought some pointed questions at briefings by China’s foreign ministry.

Yesterday, the ministry’s spokesman Hong Lei was asked whether Xi is in good health. Sticking to his government’s usual reticence, Hong said he had no information to give. But he appeared dismissive of any hint that Xi might be in a bad way.

“I hope you can ask a serious question,” Hong said when asked to confirm that Xi was alive.

China’s popular Twitter- like microblogging site Sina Weibo blocked searches for Xi’s name, as is common with top leaders, but users as usual found ways to skirt the restrictions, referring to Xi as “the crown prince”.

“What’s up with the crown prince? He’s vanished for the last 10 days or so and the whole world is wondering where he is,” wrote one user.

Despite the panicky rumours, some of China’s top officials continued to travel outside Beijing — not what would be expected if the leadership was consumed with crisis.

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

Home

More from the Irish Examiner