Questions about the health of Chinese President Xi Jinping, 73, have resurfaced after he skipped a dinner at the recent BRICS summit in India, just weeks before a planned visit to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on the 18th.
Xi had been scheduled to attend a BRICS leaders' gala dinner in New Delhi on Sept. 12 but withdrew at the last minute, according to the Journal. Several people familiar with the matter said he canceled because he was not feeling well.
The absence drew added attention because it was Xi's first trip to India in seven years and he had already accepted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to the dinner. Rumors later circulated online that Xi was seriously ill or had suffered a stroke.
India's foreign ministry dismissed such claims as fake. Footage was also released showing Xi climbing the stairs to his plane without assistance as he departed for China. The Journal said there is no evidence for the health rumors spreading online. Still, speculation has persisted because Chinese authorities have offered no official explanation for his absence from the dinner.
Foreign media are also watching the fact that Xi has not appeared in public since the BRICS summit.
Because Xi has named no clear successor since scrapping presidential term limits in 2018, questions about his health feed directly into concerns over political succession in China. Minxin Pei, a professor at Claremont McKenna College in the United States, said the problem with the Chinese system is that it has no established and reliable succession process.
Interest in Xi's health is intensifying ahead of his visit to the United States next week.
Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump are set to discuss trade, artificial intelligence, cross-strait relations and the war involving Iran at a summit tentatively scheduled for the 24th, U.S. Eastern time.
For now there is no indication of any change to the trip. The Journal said speculation about his health could subside if Xi arrives in the United States as planned and carries out his schedule normally, but that questions about both his condition and the shape of power in a post-Xi China would grow if he does not.
This is not the first time questions have been raised about Xi's health. During a visit to Kyrgyzstan last month, video spread online of Xi slowly descending the stairs from his plane while holding the hand of his wife, Peng Liyuan.
He was also seen holding Peng's hand on the aircraft stairs when he attended ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of Macau's return to Chinese rule in December 2024, prompting a range of interpretations in foreign media.
Some observers caution, however, against reading too much into his gait as a sign of health problems.
