Xi sets rumours at rest with public appearance

New Delhi, September 27

Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared on the state television CCTV’s prime time bulletin on Tuesday, visiting an exhibition on “Forging a new era” in Beijing. With this, he has put at rest a brief social media storm that interpreted his 10-day absence after returning from the Samarkand SCO summit as a coup against him.

The exhibition highlighted achievements in the past 10 years. The visit marks Xi’s first public appearance since he returned from Central Asia on September 16. The reason for his absence was more prosaic—Xi like all Chinese returning from overseas had to undergo the mandatory seven-plus three days of quarantine.

The rumours about Xi being deposed had come at a politically sensitive time for the Chinese Communist Party as it will hold its Congress next month when he is expected to be anointed the party chief for a third five-year term. It all began with messages on a platform, dubbed as Chinese twitter, that claimed Xi was detained at the airport after his arrival from Samarkand on the orders of former President Hu Jintao and former Premier Wen Jiabao. The duo, it was claimed, persuaded Song Ping, a former member of the Standing Committee, to take control of the Central Guard Bureau that looks after the security of top ranking Chinese leaders. This claim was amplified by a “freelance journalist” Jennifer Zeng.

The rumours were laid to rest by open source intelligence analysts who said claims about explosions and cancellation of flights were not true.