China's ex-president Hu Jintao, 79, is 'erased from the Internet' after being forcibly removed from seat next to Xi Jinping at Communist Party Congress - as state media claims he was dragged away because he was 'not feeling well'
  • last year
Hu Jintao, 79, who had been sitting next to Chinese President Xi Jinping, was taken off stage shortly after foreign media came in to the Great Hall of the People during the Communist Party Congress. Since his hasty removal, search results for him on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, have since appeared to be heavily censored. Late on Saturday, state media claimed Hu was 'not feeling well' when he was escorted out, but was doing 'much better' after getting some rest. During the incident, the former president appeared slightly disorientated as two assistants helped him stand, firstly grabbing him under his arms. He seemed downcast as he was dragged away, leaning down to speak to Xi Jinping as one of the officials pulled his arm. The official seemed to be anxious to get him out of the room as he was then escorted out. The former Chinese leader was in power between 2003 and 2013.
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