Is Xi Jinping’s Health Declining?

Imani Moise (0:05)

When Xi Jinping, the leader of China, came to the White House last month, there was a lot of pomp and circumstance.

SPEAKER_2 (0:12)

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington this evening for his first state visit in more than a decade.

Imani Moise (0:18)

A band played as Xi got off his airplane. President Trump himself greeted the leader on a red carpet laid along the tarmac.

SPEAKER_3 (0:29)

President Trump choppered to joint base Andrews this afternoon to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Imani Moise (0:35)

There was a 21-gun salute and a flyover of jet fighters.

The schedule included a summit between Xi and Trump and a full state dinner. And right away, our colleague Lingling Wei noticed something unusual when Xi was getting off the plane with his wife, Peng Liyuan.

Lingling Wei (0:57)

When Xi Jinping was descending the stairs from his plane at joint base Andrews, he reached for Peng Liyuan's hand while gripping the rail with the other hand.

It's not unusual for Xi Jinping to hold his wife's hand. What is unusual was the way he held her hand this time. It was pretty obvious he was leaning on her for physical support.

Imani Moise (1:27)

It happened again on Xi's last day in DC. He, his wife and the president and first lady started going up the granite stairs to the National Archive when Xi gripped his wife's hand again. The signs were subtle, but Lingling says those details are noteworthy because they raise questions about Xi's health and what his potential decline could mean for the country.

Chinese officials haven't said anything publicly about Xi's wellness.

Lingling Wei (1:59)

Many analysts have cautioned against reading too much into a stiff gait or slow step.

What isn't in dispute is that Xi Jinping is 73 years old. His well-being is an issue of huge consequences, not just for China, but for the rest of the world, precisely because he has removed the term limits, and in theory, he can rule China for life.

Imani Moise (2:33)

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Imani Moise.

Coming up on the show, the secrecy around Xi Jinping's health.

SPEAKER_5 (3:00)

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Imani Moise (4:06)

Lingling started paying attention to Xi's health about a month ago. When he took a high-profile trip to Xi Jinping...

He was there to meet with world leaders from Russia, Brazil and other nations.

SPEAKER_7 (4:17)

Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to New Delhi this weekend for the BRIC Summit, his first visit to India in nearly seven years.

Lingling Wei (4:25)

Before the trip, Xi Jinping had accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to attend a gala dinner, but he canceled that dinner at the last minute.

Our reporting showed that the reason was that Xi Jinping wasn't feeling well. But you don't skip a dinner like that with Putin and other world leaders in attendance unless something is really off. So that episode really set off an avalanche of questions among diplomats and policymakers around the world.

Imani Moise (5:03)

Those questions continued on Xi's trip to Washington in September.

This trip was his first state visit to the White House in over a decade. And the countries had a lot to hash out. Issues ranged from trade to the race over artificial intelligence, to China's relationship with Taiwan, and its links to Iran. Against that backdrop, Xi's schedule during his visit was surprisingly light. The night he arrived, his delegation didn't arrange any activities for the leader. And his agenda for the next day was also sparse.

Lingling Wei (5:34)

The Chinese team declined a working lunch for President Xi Jinping with President Trump, asking instead for more rest time. The result was a roughly five-hour gap in the summit agenda, which was a quite remarkable long stretch of downtime during a visit that lasted barely two days.

Imani Moise (5:58)

That meant Xi's summit with Trump was only about two hours total. Trump, who's 80, is also known to schedule breaks during foreign state visits.