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China denies rumours Jiang Zemin is dead

08 July 2011 03:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. CHINA’s official media said reports claiming former president Jiang Zemin had died were "pure rumour", after days of speculation about his health, APA reports quoting â€œThe Australianâ€.
The state-run Xinhua news agency yesterday quoted "authoritative sources" in its report quashing the rumours but gave no other immediate details.
Speculation the 84-year-old was seriously ill emerged on Friday when he failed to appear at celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party.
His absence was conspicuous as many other retired party and national leaders -- including former prime ministers Li Peng and Zhu Rongji -- were present at the gala at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
On Wednesday, searches for his name and other terms such as "myocardial infarction" and "condolences" on the Twitter-like Weibo service were blocked, indicating censors were stopping information from leaking out.
China censors online content it deems politically sensitive. This includes the health of leaders, which is considered a state secret, because of concerns illness might affect the appearance of stability in the party.
The Weibo searches were still blocked yesterday, after Asian media reported the former president had died.