Chinese State Media: "Hu Jintao's Health Poor, Leaves Closing Ceremony"

Hong Kong Media: "Unscripted Incident at the 20th Party Congress"

On the 22nd, during the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, former Chairman Hu Jintao (fourth from the left) suddenly exited.

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Former Chinese President Hu Jintao (79) suddenly left the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 22nd due to health reasons, according to Chinese state media.

The state-run news agency Xinhua tweeted on the night of the 22nd, "Xinhua reporter Liu Ziyuan learned that Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing ceremony of the 20th Party Congress despite needing time to recover his health recently."

It added, "When he was feeling unwell during the closing ceremony, his aides took him to a room next to the venue to rest for his health. He is now much better."

The state media issued this explanation in English belatedly after Hu’s sudden departure attracted significant attention. Twitter is banned in China.

On the same day at 11:15 a.m. (local time), as Chinese and foreign reporters entered the Great Hall of the People’s Main Auditorium, Hu Jintao was seen talking with a man presumed to be an aide and then stood up with the aide’s support.

Before leaving the venue, he briefly spoke with President Xi Jinping and patted the shoulder of Premier Li Keqiang, who was seated next to Xi, exchanging a few words. After Hu left, Xi appeared to explain the situation to Premier Li, who was seated beside him.

Because the reason for his sudden departure and the content of the conversation between Xi and Hu remain unknown, various speculations arose. Hu’s hesitant and reluctant exit further fueled controversy.

The Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, "Hu Jintao’s departure was an unscripted event at the closing ceremony. On the final day of the week-long Party Congress, the spotlight briefly shifted to Hu’s sudden exit, and the unclear reason for his departure sparked widespread circulation of the video online."

Hu Jintao is a figure representing the Communist Youth League (Gongqingdan), with Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, and Hu Chunhua as his core faction. One of the key points of interest in this Party Congress was the outcome of the competition between the Gongqingdan faction and the 'Xijiajun' (習家軍, Xi Jinping’s former direct subordinates). In the list of the 20th Central Committee members announced that day, Li Keqiang and Wang Yang were not included, marking their exclusion from the top leadership.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.