MISLEADING: No Evidence of Xi Jinping’s Alleged Stroke During Party Meeting

Last week, messages spread on social media platforms and various online news websites claiming that Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, had suffered a stroke. Reports indicated a relapse during a recent Central Committee meeting of the Communist Party of China.

Social Media Posts

In the past week, multiple online users posted a message stating that Xi Jinping had a stroke during a meeting of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Although there has been no confirmation, the message, along with a picture of Xi Jinping showing a facial expression while sipping tea, has been widely shared on both Facebook and X.

Source | Archive

Source | Archive

Source | Archive

Source | Archive 

However, we found that the information was, in fact, misleading.

Fact-Check

We conducted a fact-check using the Reverse Image Search feature and relevant keyword searches. We found a Dailymail article with the headline: “Storm in a teacup? Chinese President Xi Jinping appears to wince after sipping brew during annual congress as his communist party tightens grip on power” (read the article here | permanent link). The photographer captured the moment when Xi Jinping was sipping tea at the National People’s Congress last March, not during the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China meeting on July 18. Various sources reporting on last week’s Central Committee meeting did not mention Xi Jinping’s health issues during the meeting. Read more news about last week’s Central Committee meeting here.

Additionally, Reuters confirmed that the first photo of Xi Jinping sipping tea was taken by a Reuters journalist. The second photo, showing Xi Jinping’s expression after sipping tea, was from AP (Source). After sipping tea, Xi Jinping did not show any signs of illness, continued the meeting, and stood up to applaud a few minutes later (see the meeting atmosphere photos from Reuters here).

The latter part of the meeting, captured by Reuters

Moreover, Thai news agencies, Amarin News and Thansettakij, have reported that this viral claim is fake news released by Jennifer Zeng, a human rights journalist. She uploaded a video on her YouTube channel, titling the clip “Xi Jinping Reportedly Suffers Stroke at CCP’s Third Plenary Session.” Previously, in 2022, Jennifer Zeng also released news that Xi Jinping was couped, which was not true. Read more about that news here.

Summary

The information that President Xi Jinping had a stroke during the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China meeting is not true. The images in the allegation are from a meeting in March, and there is no evidence to confirm he is ill. Reuters news agency confirms that the published images are not related to Xi Jinping’s health in any way.