The Chinese Communist Party’s “Crown Prince”, Xi Jinping, (he’s the presumptive successor to Hu Jintao as General Secretary) appeared in public after an absence of several weeks. This had led to considerable speculation as to the state of Xi’s health.
This episode provides a useful contrast between the PRC and the US; American journalists feel that they should have unlimited access to any information about any public figure. In the PRC, the government will let them know what they want them to know- the health of trop officials is considered a state secret.
Many years ago, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told a story about a deranged man who ran through the halls of the Kremlin shouting “Khrushchev is an idiot! Khrushchev is an idiot!” He received a sentence of twenty years and six months in Siberia. Six months was for insulting the General Secretary of the Communist Party; the twenty years was for revealing a state secret.
– KENT MITCHELL