World News – CA – Chinese state broadcaster repeatedly backs down as Xi Jinping coughs ‘violently’ during key speech

Xi spoke for about 50 minutes, with CCTV choosing to move his camera a few times as he began to stutter

A coughing fit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping raised eyebrows on Wednesday as he unsuccessfully tried to make his words heard in a key speech

As the president struggled, the state broadcaster quickly moved away from Xi, who was sitting next to other leaders, none of whom were wearing masks, Newsweek reports The event, which took place held in Shenzhen in Guangdong province, was attended by a large crowd in which masks were used en masse

Xi, Newsweek reports, spoke for about 50 minutes, with CCTV, the broadcaster, choosing to move his camera several times as he began to stutter In his speech, he praised the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which was established in 1980 and marked its 40th anniversary the same day

Newsweek reports that after the coughing fit, searches of Chinese social media sites revealed nothing, and subsequent CCTV broadcasts also did not include coughing images or sounds. But among those who raised the issue was Apple Daily, a Hong Kong news site that noted that the noises emanating from Xi were so bad you could still hear him on the live stream even when CCTV turned around to face the crowd Xi « coughs and coughs, » the headline reads, and his article says he was seen taking turns coughing and drinking water In Taiwan, the Yahoo site said the leader had « coughed violently « Other sites note the number of coughs he let out, compared to the number of minutes Xi spoke

Although speculation quickly spread online about Xi’s condition, there is no indication that he himself is suffering from the effects of a COVID-19 infection, the symptoms of which include a cough and a difficult breathing

In his speech, Xi made Shenzhen, which hosts Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, an economic hub of the future He urged Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to support the region by investing in it The borders of the area shake Hong Kong, and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam was present

As China struggles to recover from the effects of a now global COVID-19 pandemic that began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the country recently reported a new cluster of infections in the port city of Qingdao, in the east of the country This broke a streak of more than two months without local transmission, highlighting the risk of a resurgence in countries that have nearly eradicated the pathogen

The city of Shandong province said on Sunday it found three asymptomatic cases linked to a hospital that treats Covid-19 patients from overseas Extended tests on patients and hospital staff then revealed nine other infections – of the total of 12 in the cluster to date, six are asymptomatic

More tests are underway and aim to cover the entire city of 95 million in five days, the local health commission said on Monday

The cluster has now grown to be China’s largest for months, reflecting the difficulty in eradicating the coronavirus in a given country when epidemics are still spreading rapidly in places like India and the U.S while rebounding in Europe Several countries in the Asia-Pacific region like Thailand and New Zealand have also maintained long periods of virus-free periods, only to see the pathogen raise its head again

New cluster unlikely to halt China’s progress to overtake Covid-19 as its economy rebounds and life returns to normal for the vast majority of citizens An eight-day national holiday period that comes from coming to an end saw 637 million trips made to the country, 80% of the level of a year ago, reflecting the country’s confidence that mass travel with few restrictions will not lead to further out-of-control outbreaks

The sources of these resurgences remain largely a mystery, as asymptomatic carriers prevent health experts from being able to map a chain of transmission

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China, Xi Jinping, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Carrie Lam