Former Chairman Hu Jintao escorted out of Chinese Communist Party Congress, Because he Felt Ill, Says Xinhuanet

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chinese former President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly escorted out of the closing ceremony of a congress of the ruling Communist Party on Saturday.

Hu, 79, Xi Jinping's immediate predecessor, was seated to the left of Xi. He was led off the stage of the main auditorium of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by two stewards, a Reuters witness at the congress said.

Video footage published by AFP showed a steward repeatedly trying to lift Hu from his seat, drawing concerned looks from officials seated nearby. Hu then put his hand on a sheet of paper placed on Xi's folder but Xi quickly put his hand on the sheet.

China's top legislator Li Zhanshu, seated to Hu's right, gave the former president's folder to a steward, wiping his own head with a cloth after Hu finally stood up.

Looking distressed, Hu appeared to resist leaving as the stewards escorted him out, turning back to his seat at one point. On his way out, he exchanged words with Xi and patted Premier Li Keqiang, seated to the right of Xi, on the shoulder.

Video of the incident, highly unusual given the meticulous stage management of most such events, was widely shared on Twitter but could not be found on China's heavily censored social media platforms. Twitter is blocked in China.

On China's Twitter-like Weibo, a few social media users alluded to the incident by commenting on old posts featuring Hu, a common tactic used to evade cyberspace censors.

By Saturday evening, however, the comments section of almost all Weibo posts containing Hu's name were no longer visible, according to a Reuters review. Former Chinese president Hu Jintao leaves his seat next to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, during the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 22, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

State media coverage of the ceremony did not include the scene, which occurred as journalists were entering the hall. The official CCTV evening news coverage of Saturday's congress closing ceremony included footage with Hu, as normal, from before the incident. Hu had appeared slightly unsteady last Sunday when he was assisted onto the same stage for the opening ceremony of the congress.

Late on Saturday, China's official news agency Xinhua tweeted about the incident. "Xinhuanet reporter Liu Jiawen has learned that Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing session of the Party's 20th National Congress, despite the fact that he has been taking time to recuperate recently," it said.

"When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. Now, he is much better," a second tweet said.

There was no mention of Hu on Xinhua's domestic Weibo postings.

The once-in-five-years congress concluded with amendments to the party's constitution that cements the core status of Xi and the guiding role of his political thought within the party.

路透北京10月22日 - 中国前国家主席胡锦涛周六出人意料地被护送离开执政的共产党代表大会闭幕式。

79岁的胡锦涛是习近平的前任，坐在习近平的左边。一位路透社在大会上的证人说，他被两名管家领下北京人民大会堂主礼堂的舞台。

法新社发布的视频片段显示，一名管家多次试图将胡锦涛从座位上抬起，引起坐在附近的官员担忧的目光。胡然后把手放在放在习文件夹上的一张纸上，但习很快把手放在了纸上。

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中国最高立法委员栗战书坐在胡的右边，将前总统的文件夹交给管家，胡终于站起来后用布擦了擦自己的头。

胡锦涛一脸苦恼，似乎拒绝离开，被管家护送出去，一转身回到自己的座位上。出门时，他与习近平谈了话，拍了拍坐在习近平右边的李克强总理的肩膀。

鉴于大多数此类活动的精心舞台管理，该事件的视频非常不寻常，在推特上被广泛分享，但在中国受到严格审查的社交媒体平台上却找不到。推特在中国被屏蔽了。

在中国类似推特的微博上，一些社交媒体用户通过评论胡锦涛的旧帖子来暗示这一事件，这是逃避网络空间审查的常用策略。

然而，根据路透社的评论，到周六晚上，几乎所有包含胡的名字的微博帖子的评论部分都不再可见。

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2022 年 10 月 22 日，在中国北京人民大会堂举行的中国共产党第 20 次全国代表大会闭幕式上，中国前国家主席胡锦涛在中国国家主席习近平和国务院总理李克强旁边离开座位.REUTERS/王廷舒

官方媒体对仪式的报道没有包括记者进入大厅时发生的现场。

中央电视台周六闭幕式的官方晚间新闻报道包括胡锦涛在事件发生前的镜头。

上周日，胡锦涛被扶上同台出席大会开幕式时，显得有些不稳。

周六晚些时候，中国官方通讯社新华社在推特上发布了关于这一事件的消息。

"新华网记者刘家文获悉，胡锦涛最近一直在抽空养病，但他坚持要出席党的二十大闭幕会。"

"当他在会议期间感觉不舒服时，他的工作人员为了他的健康，陪他到会场旁边的房间休息。现在，他好多了，"第二条推文说。

新华社的国内微博帖子中没有提到胡锦涛。

五年一次的全国代表大会以修改党章结束，巩固了习近平的核心地位和政治思想在党内的指导作用。