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Diego Azubel / EPA
A file photo dated Aug. 30 shows Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Reports say Xi, who is expected to lead the ruling Communist Party from next month, is recovering from an injury.
Updated 12:45 p.m. ET Saturday: BEIJING - China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping appeared in public on Saturday for the first time in about two weeks, state news agency Xinhua reported, following rumors about his health or the state of the country's leadership succession.
Xinhua said Vice President Xi "arrived at China Agricultural University Saturday morning for activities marking this year's National Science Popularization Day."
Pictures on state television's main evening news showed a healthy-looking, relaxed Xi inspecting ears of corn, chatting with students and laughing with children. Reuters had reported that Xi was likely to make an appearance on Saturday.
A later, full description of Xi's visit by Xinhua said he inspected exhibitions on growing drought-resistant corn and a talk on how to fight food adulteration, a perennial problem in the world's second-largest economy.
"Food is the people's first necessity, and food safety is an important issue for people's livelihood," the report quoted him as saying.
None of the reports made mention of Xi's recent absence.
Sources have told Reuters Xi hurt his back while swimming earlier this month and that he had been obeying doctors' orders to get more bed rest and undergo physiotherapy.
Xi had been out of the public eye for almost two weeks and had skipped meetings with foreign leaders and dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Chinese government officials repeatedly refused to say what happened to him, fuelling speculation that has included Xi supposedly suffering a heart attack, a stroke, emergency cancer surgery and even an attempted assassination.
The health of the country's leaders has long been considered a state secret in China.
The ruling Communist Party's refusal to comment on his disappearance from public view and absence from scheduled events was in keeping with its traditional silence on the question of the health of top leaders, but it had worried or mystified most China watchers.
Xi had last appeared in public on September 1. He pulled a back muscle while swimming shortly before Clinton arrived on an official visit on September 4, the sources said, forcing him to scrap a meeting with her the next day and also with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
On Wednesday, state media carried comments attributed to Xi for the first time since he dropped out of sight, but there was no public sighting of him or any new photographs.
Beijing has yet to announce formally a date for the party's five-yearly congress, at which Xi is tipped to replace Hu Jintao as party chief, although it is still expected to be held in mid or late October at the earliest.
In March next year, he is formally to take up the reins of the world's second-largest economy.
The uncertainty surrounding Xi's absence has had no impact so far on Chinese or foreign markets, which have been absorbed by Europe's debt crisis and China's own economic slowdown. But investors have been keeping a close eye on the mystery surrounding Xi, after months of high political drama in China.
Senior leader Bo Xilai was suspended from the party's 25-member Politburo in April and his wife convicted of the murder of a British businessman. Blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng escaped from house arrest in April and took refuge in the U.S. embassy before leaving for New York.
In another scandal this month, a senior ally of President Hu was demoted after sources said the ally's son was killed in a crash involving a luxury sports car.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
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Maybe he's been cloned!
Him and Jesse Jackson Jr. were partying and diggin on the babes, hopin for some ping-pow.
Cloned or not, did you see how lavish his seat is. Compare that to the life of billions in poverty in China. Although not as bad as India but I think they should spend that money on the poor.
Not every country's leaders attempt a pissing match of how poor they are to get votes. Would you prefer our President giving speaches from a fold up chair?
Anything to make news! The entire world has been waiting restlessly on the edge of our seats!
Water boarding is a pain in the back!
Wait,don't tell me. He got an eye job right?
That's nothing, our President has not been seen in 3 1/2 years, at least not anywhere work related.
partisan hackery in only 5 posts.
@Fubarak: Something I have noticed about the intellect of the average Republican biased posting is that it's always very low. Why is it that the average Republican is so miseducated and misinformed? I find it so alarming that so much of America is so ignorant. How can the US compete with the world when a sizable portion of its population is so backward thinking.
Let's me guess, Obama is the first president that run campaign while being a president?
Oh, not that? I guess you just use whatever excuses you can find to blame him like Romney is doing. Romney's websites are about "Obama's failure" repeat every single page. He is not even a president and he already blames Obama.
GOP Congress have been missing for years - Boehner seems to show up on the Golf course smoking a cig & catching a tan.
@GCV.
What an elitist A$$ Hole!
@CuongDnguyen,
You forgot to mention the Obuma campaign's FALSE ACCUSATIONS of Romney aiding to a woman's death, being a felon and tax cheat... just for starters. So, really? You want to talk about websites?
@Bobs ur Uncle,
Let's see, Obuma has played how many games of golf? Over 100!! He is or was a smoker and I'm not going to comment on the color of his skin because I'm not a racist like you!
YOU THREE NEED TO DO YOUR CIRCLE JERK AND GO TO BED!!
Wait. The "One" has been seen in Vegas just recently, campaigning. That's kinda/sorta "work-related"...lol.
@GVC Lets see, the deficit is 16 Trillion and rising, unemployment is still over 8 percent, the economy, still not doing very well, American national pride is at its lowest, the traded deficit with China is totally unacceptable, our space agency has given up the top spot (have to use Russian spacecraft to get to the ISS, etc., etc., etc. And it's all Bush's fault? Obama needs to grow some balls and take charge, and quit playing the blame game. I didn't vote for Obama, and I'm stupid? I don't think so. Historically this country has had better leadership with a republican in office.
Some people have said that Obama is the greatest president we have ever had. Jimmy Carter stated that "finally a president worse than himself", and Obama is a great leader "the anointed one" By who? Satin? China? My A$$.
Go ahead and drink your koolaid, spiked with stupidity, and don't call me stupid, I don't drink the koolaid. I know better.
Oh by the way, a freshmen congressman with 7 month of experience is capable of running the country, sure into the ground.
Unfortunately, the Romney camp and his followers are predominately using racism as their campaign cornerstone.
What's horrifying is that this may end up being the decisive factor.
The last time a campaign was run on a poorly camouflaged racist message and succeeded due to a collapsing economy was a candidate last century in Germany called Adolph.
A Romney win will prove disastrous on an international far, far worse than anything going on now and those who voted for him will leave many generations after them who are ashamed and embarrassed how their stupidity, irrationality and narrow-minded racism could have allowed a criminal and his gang to ruin a once great nation.
@GCV Maybe your opine is backward thinking! You should contemplate this and go have lunch with ChuUrDuong.
@zflynn I did not know Biden was a follower of Romney!!! His racist statement of putting Blacks back in chains was very inflammatory. What a nimrod! He looks very cute with that Biker chick sitting in his lap as well.
lol that was my undergrad university
My boss, who is pretty well connected to top-level business circles over there, seems to give the most credence to reports that it was a back injury obtained as a result of a swimming accident.
The bulk of China's crony corporate money goes into construction, infrastructure: building first class cities that can accommodate millions and not a single person living in any of it yet, the world's biggest, fastest, tallest, project after project, and their economy is thriving and booming faster than any economy in the history of the world: over 1.3 billion people have tripled their income in the past twenty years.
The bulk of America's crony corporate money goes into destruction, the Military Industrial Complex, and Wall Street, Big "Banks". America's infrastructure is falling apart, the middle class has lost 40% of their net worth in the past decade alone, the poverty rate is as high as it was during the Great Depression, the incarceration rate is the highest of anywhere (largely due to a Prison for Profit system, whereas private corporations profit by incarcerating men, women and children), the bulk of the country is angry, bitter, divided and seemingly on the verge of something extremely nasty.
Where is the money going?
Who is it helping?
It's simple math.
Stop supporting the Corruption that is Bankrupting America and turning it into the worst type of 3rd world existence.
"Politico reported that the Obama campaign is using material from a Communist Chinese agency known to be the government’s propaganda outlet in order to attack presidential candidate Mitt Romney".
The Obama campaign and the Communist Chinese? Birds of a feather...
Rehab?
Again the US of F""" A false reporting and trying to make a comeback after false reporting. If the US news is now starting to spread rumors this makes the world think otherwise of the US. Keep to the facts and but out of other countries business. If you want to start a war, start it in your own backyard.
Look at the other side of the coin.
Could he have been involved in back channel meetings with the U.S. and Russia. All three want to bring an end to this mess in the middle east before it blows up . It is also true each wants a piece of the pie once things settle down there. Might have been some horse trading going on . My guess is all three are trying to get on the same page before it is to late.
Something tells me that there may be some back room deals going on. To what end is the $64,000.00 question
It's clear that crony capitalism has taken root in China and is running rampant in America.
They learn fast don't they?
Now the major questions are ...
Are we going to continue with the political infighting while the Wall Street Banksters work to buy another election?
Are we going to continue to allow the wholesale dismantling of our infrastructure and economy for the advancement of a communist country?
There was a time when that would be considered treason. This all seems to have begun back when Nixon paid China a visit. We all know how honest he was. If the current administration and the next one coming in January fail to stop the hemhoraging of jobs to China et al, I think a vote of no confidence is in order
Whether Democrat or Republican they are both to blame for the mess we're in now.
We the people can influence the future by voting these do nothing reps out of office and start buying only American made goods. If we leave all the poisoned garbage from China sitting on store shelves the winds of fortune will start blowing in our favor.
If we continue to allow the big multinational corporations and banks to poison us with cheap Chinese goods and buy our officials in our elections, we as a nation will become another footnote in history.
It's past time for America to wake up and smell the coffee.
Unless you want us to become a nation of paupers BUY AMERICAN. VOTE THIRD PARTY.
Herb
I agree with your posting for the most part.
Buying American Made is the tough part. Most everything that is made by American companies is really made overseas. LL Bean use to make their own stuff, now most if not all are made over there somewhere. Most parts on American cars are made in Mexico or overseas. You are most correct when you said we must bring our jobs back home. That is the one and only way to get out of this economic mess we are in. As for congress. I feel we should recall the whole damn lot of them. Then tar and feather them. After that then elect a new congress. Having seen what we did to the last congress maybe they will serve us rather than their fat cat puppeteers.
bob
who cares! its not like a VP matters anyway.
Sounds like his hic cups were getting too loud and too many. Ahhh what detox can do for a person...
Too bad our VP doesn't disappear. His brain has. They must have went a little too deep installing his hair plugs.
What a pansy....hurt his back swimming? Think about it....this is an example of the Red Chinese Guard! A war with China.....we would eat them alive!!!
Who cares where he was? I might care what he was doing because of all the lead based products they keep selling to the US and us dummies keep buying...to save money we chance killing our children and ourselves.
Even in china they must have holidays
I am retired and live in Portugal and im sure I saw him in our local super market
the other day