Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping made his first public appearance in nearly two weeks, terminating an absence that fueled a storm of unsubstantiated rumors regarding his whereabouts.
Xi, who leads China as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), visited an exhibition in Beijing on Sept. 27, according to Chinese state-owned media.
The event was Xi’s first public appearance since returning to China from a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan earlier in the month.
Xi had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an unofficial ally, during that summit. The two leaders reaffirmed their nations’ support for one another in the face of mounting resistance from the West regarding China’s plans for Taiwan and Russia’s war in Ukraine….