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Article: The mystery deepens: China. (disappearance of Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng from the public eye)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 5, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ON APRIL 26th, Li Peng, the Chinese prime minister, was due to meet a foreign visitor. The meeting was cancelled and Mr Li has not been seen in public since. Speculation about his fate is rife.
Reporters who first asked officials about Mr Li were told that he had a "bad cold". After some weeks they said he was recovering, but had been ordered by doctors to rest. That might seem reasonable, except that in China it is quite normal for ailing politicians to be filmed for the evening television news on their sick beds, perhaps receiving wishes for a speedy recovery from solicitous friends. Was Mr Li too ill to be shown? A rumour went round Beijing that he had heart ...