A video viewed hundreds of thousands of times in multiple Chinese tweets has been shared alongside a misleading claim that it showed former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji not applauding President Xi Jinping at the 20th Communist Party Congress. It circulated as Xi was expected to be given a third term in office after the party began the week-long session on October 16, 2022. While there were reports that some officials did not applaud Xi at this year’s congress, the video circulating online was in fact from the last national congress in 2017.
The 10-second video was posted on Twitter on October 16, 2022. It shows Xi bowing as other officials applaud him, but former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji in the front row does not appear to do so. It was viewed more than 140,000 times.
“Zhu Rongji was the only person who did not clap his hands at the scene. Although Old Zhu had a good nature, he started the privatisation of healthcare and education systems with dire consequences that can still be felt today,” the caption in simplified Chinese reads.
A screenshot, taken on October 17, 2022, of the misleading post.
The ruling Communist Party began its 20th National Congress on October 16. Xi was expected to be given a third term in office, after China abolished presidential term limits in a 2018 constitutional amendment.
The claim began to surface amid social media chatter highlighting footage of this year’s meeting that appeared to show that several officials — including former Politburo Standing Committee member Li Ruihuan — did not applaud Xi. Taiwanese outlets United Daily News and Liberty Times also reported that former President Hu Jintao and former State Councillor Song Ping did not applaud at the 2022 meeting.
While some viewers pointed out that the video showing Zhu Rongji in the misleading posts was from 2017, others appeared to believe it happened during the 20th National Congress meeting this year.
The video of Zhu Rongji was also shared alongside a similar claim on Twitter and Gettr.
The misleading video has been shared with false context: it was actually taken during the Chinese Communist Party’s 19th National Congress meeting in 2017.
Old congress meeting
A reverse image search on Google found a longer version of the video published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on YouTube on October 18, 2017.
The video was titled: “The 19th National People’s Congress Opening Ceremony October 18, 2017 | CCTV”.
“The 19th National People’s Congress was held at 9am on October 18, 2017 in Beijing,” the video description partly reads.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the CCTV video (right). Several senior Chinese officials including Zhang Gaoli, Liu Yunshan and Zhang Dejiang could be seen seated in the same order in both videos.
A screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the CCTV’s video (right)
The same video was also published by another Chinese state broadcaster, CGTN, on October 18, 2017.
Having retired, Zhu did not attend the 20th Party Congress meeting’s opening ceremony this year, as reported by Nikkei Asia.
