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Social media is abuzz with speculation that Xi Jinping skipped the Brics gala dinner in Delhi on Sunday and made a hasty return to China because he took ill. Mr Xi was in India for the first time in seven years to attend the 18th Brics summit but returned before the rest of the world leaders on 13 September. He has not been seen in public since his return to China , further fuelling the rumour mill.
A video shared by India's national broadcaster showed prime minister Narendra Modi briefly pausing during his opening remarks at the summit to check on Mr Xi, who was seated to his left. "Is it OK?" the Indian leader asked as aides appeared to rush to Mr Xi. He repeated the question and Mr Xi nodded.
Mr Modi then proceeded with his speech. Chinese journalists on Wednesday posted a longer video on X, a platform banned in the country, to claim that Mr Modi was responding to the president’s faulty earpiece used for real-time translation. The Chinese foreign ministry said earlier this week that Mr Xi departed Delhi on Sunday afternoon after “successfully concluding” his attendance at the summit.
The visit appeared consistent with the itinerary of attending the summit from 12 to 13 September, but lasted only about 24 hours. Speculations about the 73-year-old leader's failing health began on Monday after the chair of the China Democracy Party, an unregistered political organisation, alleged in a post on X that Mr Xi fainted during the Brics summit and was flown back to China for emergency medical treatment. Chinese president Xi Jinping at the Brics summit in Delhi (AFP/Getty) Xie Wanjun, who is based in the US, alleged that Mr Xi suffered a severe ischemic stroke, but refused treatment in Delhi.
Mr Xie claimed the Chinese president was taken to the Beijing 301 Hospital after landing back in his country. "When boarding the plane, Xi Jinping walked with difficulty, his steps faltering, his body repeatedly leaning to the left,” Mr Xie alleged. American journalist Bill Gertz said on Wednesday that “rumours are flying” about Mr Xi’s health and claimed there was speculation that "rival group armies are mobilising for civil war".
Henry Gao, a law professor at Singapore Management University, said "anyone dismissing the recent China rumours as 'just rumours' needs a masterclass in Chinese history". "In right hands”, he said, rumours could become "political weapons". Indian prime minister Narendra Modi with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Brics summit in Delhi (Reuters) “Xi Jinping is not well.
This time, China could not hide his condition,” political analyst Gordon Chang posted. “There are sensational rumours that the Chinese military has freed two of Xi Jinping’s most powerful enemies, Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang. If these rumours are true – they’re hard to believe – Xi will not feel safe leaving China.” Rumours around Mr Xi's health have put a question mark over his scheduled visit to the US, where he’s due to meet president Donald Trump on 24 September.
This will be their third face-to-face meeting in the past year. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa , who did attend the Brics dinner, is confirmed as having taken ill after returning from the summit. Mr Ramaphosa, 73, has since been withdrawn from public engagements due to ill health on the advice of his medical team, his office said.
He returned from Delhi on Monday and was advised by his doctors to rest and recover. Speculation is rife that the food served at Brics could be linked to Mr Ramaphosa’s illness. It’s not the only talking point around the menu at the summit – opposition parties in India have criticised Mr Modi for serving a vegetarian dinner to the visiting leaders, accusing him of disregarding India's cultural diversity.
Mr Modi, like many members of the dominant Hindu castes, is a vegetarian.
Source: The Independent
