Chinese president Xi Jinping arrived in the US on Wednesday for his summit with Donald Trump after days of social media rumours about the Chinese leader's health.
Mr Xi, accompanied by his wife, Peng Liyuan, landed at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening, with China hawks watching closely for any clues of an ailment.
The 73-year-old leader was seen making his way slowly down the aircraft’s steps, holding both the staircase’s handrail and with a firm grip on wife's hand to his left.
His arrival will have done little to stave off speculation that Xi suffered some kind of health setback prior to his visit to India for the Brics summit in September. The Chinese leader had few public engagements and skipped the gala dinner with the bloc’s leaders on 13 September to head back to Beijing early.
The health rumours first began when Xi visited Kyrgyzstan for a regional summit at the end of August. Like in Washington, Mr Xi walked down the plane’s steps gingerly upon arrival in Bishkek, firmly holding Ms Peng’s hand. Videos of his arrival that later aired on Chinese state media cut out before showing his descent down the steps.
Discussions of the president’s health have been encouraged by comments from the chair of the China Democracy Party, a political opposition group, who alleged Mr Xi fainted during the Brics summit and was flown back to China for emergency medical treatment.
Xie Wanjun, who is based in the US, said on Thursday that Ms Peng used her right hand to support Mr Xi and "prevented him from falling".
"If Peng Liyuan hadn't been supporting Xi Jinping's left hand, his left arm would have drooped, his left leg would have been weak, and his body would have tilted to the left. Xi Jinping's symptoms clearly indicate the aftereffects of a stroke," he claimed.
Mr Xie had previously alleged that President Xi suffered a severe ischemic stroke, but refused treatment in Delhi. Mr Xie claimed the Chinese president was taken to Beijing’s 301 Hospital – an army-operated facility that caters to the Chinese Communist Party’s upper echelons – after landing back in his country.
Henry Gao, a law professor at Singapore Management University, at that time had claimed that "anyone dismissing the recent China rumours as 'just rumours' needs a masterclass in Chinese history". "In the right hands”, he said, rumours could become "political weapons".
China has not acknowledged the health rumours and keeps information about Mr Xi’s medical history and lifestyle choices to a minimum, with a lack of transparency that has only fuelled speculation.
It is said that Mr Xi smoked during his youth, and a former CIA senior analyst who tracked Chinese leaders named Dennis Wilder has gone further, claiming the president has a reputation in party circles for being a frequent drinker and longtime smoker. Wilder also told The Wall Street Journal that Mr Xi did not like to exercise.
Another area of uncertainty surrounds what happens if Mr Xi has to step aside as president. He has ruled China with an iron fist for over 13 years and holds absolute power over the Chinese Communist Party and the military. Part of that grip on power lies in the fact that he has no obvious contender to be his successor.
Mr Xi was named as the successor to Hu Jintao, and Hu was named by Jiang Zemin before that. But Mr Xi has not named his own successor, and periodic purges of senior officials have left China’s leadership ranks increasingly bare.
His own longevity is clearly a matter of concern for Mr Xi. In September 2025, a hot mic caught him and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussing the prospect of living forever, alongside North Korea's Kim Jong Un at a Beijing summit marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
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