Speculation over the health of Chinese President Xi Jinping, 73, has resurfaced after he reportedly requested unusually frequent breaks during his summit with US President Donald Trump last month.
China asked the White House to arrange a private rest room for Xi inside the West Wing during the visit, The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct 2.
Only Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, was allowed inside, while access was tightly restricted for members of the Chinese delegation, including Xi’s chief of staff, as well as White House officials.
Xi’s schedule scaled back
Xi’s itinerary was also noticeably reduced.
China’s advance team asked the White House to cancel a working lunch with Trump scheduled for Sept 24. This contrasted with May, when the two leaders shared lunch at Zhongnanhai during Trump’s visit to Beijing.
The Chinese side sought to secure as much rest time as possible for Xi, leaving about five hours unscheduled during the short trip, the Journal reported.
The evening of his arrival was left open, while a Sept 25 visit to the US National Archives and Records Administration lasted just 10 minutes, far shorter than originally planned.
Footage released from the trip also appeared to show Xi moving with difficulty.
As he stepped off his plane, Xi held Peng’s hand with one hand and gripped the railing with the other. He also leaned on her while climbing the steps at the National Archives.
Chinese state media did not include those scenes in its prime-time broadcasts.
Fresh questions over Xi’s health
The latest reports are not the first to raise questions about Xi’s health.
At a BRICS summit in India last month, Xi also skipped a dinner attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders because of health problems.
Experts said a foreign leader requesting a private rest room inside the White House was without precedent.
Dennis Wilder, a former senior director for China at the National Security Council who oversaw three state visits during the George W. Bush administration, said nothing similar occurred with former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi or former Chinese President Hu Jintao, describing the arrangement as ‘highly unusual’.
Wilder also noted that the Sept 24 bilateral meeting began around noon and ended early in the afternoon, saying the session was unusually short for a meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
Experts said Xi does not appear to be showing signs of serious cognitive impairment, such as declining brain function.
However, with no successor named and power concentrated in Xi alone, his health is seen as a key variable that could have an impact on China’s political landscape.
