Absent, 'ailing' Xi Jinping cited in state media
China’s missing leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, was mentioned on Thursday in an official newspaper report, state media’s only reference to him in 12 days, sparking rumours of illness.
China has issued the first comments attributed to president-in-waiting Xi Jinping since his disappearance from the public eye over 10 days ago ignited rumours over his health, but there was no public sighting or new photograph of him.
Xi, who has skipped meetings with visiting foreign leaders over the past week, was cited by state media late on Wednesday night as expressing condolences to the family of a veteran Communist Party official who died last week.
Beijing has still not issued a statement directly responding to the rumours over the 59-year-old’s health, which have included a bad back, heart trouble, a stroke and a sinister car -crash injury.
China experts doubt Xi is suffering more than a minor ailment – a version supported by sources close to the leadership – but Beijing’s refusal to clarify the situation has begun to emerge as a talking point in global financial markets.
“Xi Jinping has been a big worry for people. He’s been out of the public eye for about a week now,” Francis Cheung, head of China and Hong Kong strategy with investment group CLSA, said on the sidelines of a conference in Hong Kong.
Another chief strategist, with a US securities firm in Tokyo, added that Beijing’s silence – though in keeping with a tradition of not discussing the health of senior leaders – could indicate some discord behind the scenes.