Hours after its former leader China Hu Jintao was removed against his will from the closing ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party Congress. State Chinese media reported that the reason for the unexpected scene was that the former president was “not feeling well.”

“Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing ceremony… despite the fact that he has recently been recovering,” the New China news agency said.

“Because he was not feeling well during the meeting, his team took him to a nearby rest room for the sake of his health. It is much better now,” the state news agency said.

When he felt unwell during a meeting, his staff would escort him to a room next to the meeting to rest for his health. Now he is much better.

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) October 22, 2022

Hu Jintao, 79, President of China from 2003 to 2013, is considered a reformer.

His seat during the closing ceremony of the Congress was next to Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People. The published footage shows how the staff convince him to get up from his seat. The employee tries to take his hand, but he refuses. The same man tries to lift him under the armpits, but Xi Jinping’s noticeably weakened predecessor continues to resist.

Hu Jintao tries to take with him the documents lying on his seat, which appear to belong to Xi Jinping, who holds them tightly.

What follows is a nearly minute conversation between the employee and Hu Jintao.

In the end, the former president is persuaded to leave the room, apparently against his will, and led out, leaving an empty seat next to Xi Jinping.

When he gets up, Hu Jintao turns to Xi Jinping, who answers him without looking at him, and Premier Li Keqiang, whom he pats on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

The employees are speechless.

The scene unfolded after the press entered the Great Hall of the People to cover the closing ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party Congress and just before 2,300 congressmen voted unanimously to include Xi Jinping in the party charter.

Hu Jintao looked weak with gray hair last Sunday at the beginning of the conference.

Political scientists have been unable to explain this unfortunate scene, nor to suggest its connection with Chinese politics, since there was no official explanation.

“Whether it was intentional or he was sick, the result is the same. A complete humiliation for the last generation of pre-Xi Chinese leaders,” Alex White, a British analyst based in China, tweeted.

Source: RES-IPE