The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- China's Xi finally appears in public amid rumours over health
- Hundreds protest at Japanese embassy in Beijing
- State media says China's Xi appears in public
| China's Xi finally appears in public amid rumours over health Posted: 14 Sep 2012 08:01 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - 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 September 1. He pulled a back muscle while swimming shortly before Clinton arrived on an official visit on September 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. (Writing by Ben Blanchard, Editing by Dean Yates) Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| Hundreds protest at Japanese embassy in Beijing Posted: 14 Sep 2012 07:33 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Hundreds of people protested in front of the Japanese embassy in Beijing on Saturday, throwing objects at the building as police struggled to keep control, amid growing tensions between Asia's two biggest economies over a group of disputed islands. On Tuesday, Japan brushed off stern warnings from China and said it had bought the islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, from a private Japanese owner.
In Shanghai, streets around the Japanese consulate, in the western part of town, were cordoned off on Saturday. Hundreds of police let small groups of people in at a time to protest. There have been smaller, better-behaved protests in front of the embassy located in an eastern part of Beijing for most of the week. The long-running territorial dispute flared last month after Japan detained a group of Chinese activists who had landed on the islands. Diplomats say Tokyo and Beijing would prefer to keep the row from spiralling out of control, but with China facing a once-in-a-decade leadership change, an election looming in Japan and mutual mistrust deep, managing the feud could be difficult. The uninhabited islets were at the centre of a chill between Beijing and Tokyo in 2010, after Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain whose boat collided with Japanese Coast Guard vessels in the area. Sino-Japanese relations have long been plagued by China's bitter memories of Japan's military aggression in the 1930s and 1940s and present rivalry over resources and regional clout. (Reporting by Maxim Duncan and Sui-Lee Wee, and John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait) Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| State media says China's Xi appears in public Posted: 14 Sep 2012 07:16 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping appeared in public on Saturday for the first time in about two weeks, state news agency Xinhua reported, following rumours about his health or the state of the country's leadership succession. In a brief English-language report, Xinhua said Vice President Xi "arrived at China Agricultural University Saturday morning for activities marking this year's National Science Popularisation Day".
It gave no other details. Reuters had reported that Xi was likely to make an appearance on Saturday. Sources have told Reuters Xi hurt his back while swimming earlier this month and that he had been obeying doctors' orders to get more bed rest and undergo physiotherapy. 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 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 September 1. He pulled a back muscle while swimming shortly before Clinton arrived on an official visit on September 4, the sources said, forcing him to scrap a meeting with her the next day and also with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. On Wednesday, state media carried comments attributed to Xi for the first time since he dropped out of sight, but there was no public sighting of him or any new photographs. 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 up 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 high 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. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait) Copyright © 2012 Reuters |
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