China VP Xi’s Absence From Public Fuels Speculation
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Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s absence from public events for more than a week fueled speculation about the health of the leading candidate to succeed President Hu Jintao in a once-in-a-decade leadership change.
Since speaking at the Party School of the Communist Party on Sept. 1, Xi canceled a Sept. 5 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After foreign journalists in Beijing were told the same day that Xi would meet Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt on Sept. 10, the event wasn’t included in an official agenda distributed Sept. 7. The foreign ministry said yesterday no such meeting was planned.