APEC Summit: Secret Agent Quietly Delivers Medicine—Is Xi Jinping Ill?

(Screenshots show the aide quietly handing Xi three items just after he sat down.)

[People News] During the APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and his senior officials provided several moments that left democratic leaders baffled and amused—turning into gossip fodder at dinner tables. More intriguingly, South Korean media captured a suspicious scene: just as Xi sat down, a personal bodyguard swiftly approached and discreetly handed him three items. Netizens speculated that Xi, who may be struggling with illness, was being given medicine by his aide.

Former media professional @Fangliusy posted on X (formerly Twitter):“This rare scene of Xi Jinping was captured by South Korean journalists.”

The footage shows Xi arriving at the APEC meeting in Gyeongju. As soon as he sits down, a Chinese aide approaches—first placing a white thermos cup on the table, then crouching to pull a stack of tissue-like papers from a pocket under his jacket, and finally taking an eyeglass-case-shaped object from his chest pocket.

The man carefully arranges these items on Xi’s desk, his expression tense, eyes darting around nervously, acting almost furtively—as if afraid of being seen.

The post speculated:“None of the items were in an official storage pouch! The first is a cup—medicine or tea? Unknown, but likely medicine. The second might be cue cards for a speech. The third should be eyeglasses.”

Screenshots show the aide quietly handing Xi three items just after he sat down.

The video quickly went viral on overseas X platforms. One commenter wrote:“Why does Xi’s bodyguard look like a secret agent? Look at his eyes—like he’s doing something shady, terrified of being seen.”

Others joked:“The eyeglass case—an invisible weapon. Anyone who looks straight at it for three seconds goes blind! The speech cards—actually paper-bomb grenades; if anyone disagrees, toss one and blow them sky-high! And if those don’t work—when enemies close in, he takes one sip from the cup: inside is the legendary poison ‘Smile Half-a-Step-to-Madness.’”

Analysts suggested Xi’s need to bring his own thermos and tissues reflects both health issues and security paranoia—needing medicine readily available, while avoiding assassination and preventing others from collecting his biological traces for intelligence purposes. This, they noted, is typical behavior for autocrats.

A similar case occurred during the 2023 Putin–Kim Jong Un summit, when after the meeting, North Korean agents re-entered the room to wipe every object Kim had touched, even taking away his teacup—reportedly to destroy any traceable biological material and prevent leaks about his health.

Earlier reports revealed that when Xi travels abroad, he takes extraordinary security precautions. To prevent poisoning or assassination, he often rents entire luxury hotels, with meals prepared only by his personal chefs.

According to Taiwan’s Up Media, South African police confirmed that during the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, Xi not only brought a 500-member delegation but also booked two entire hotels. His own room was stripped bare and refitted with items shipped from China—from cups, bowls, and beds to mattresses, carpets, and even curtains—highlighting his extreme concern for personal safety.

Netizens speculated that the thermos contained traditional Chinese medicine. Rumors about Xi’s deteriorating health have circulated for years. Since 2019, various media outlets have reported that he suffers from pancreatic cancer, cerebral aneurysm, or stroke, though none have been officially confirmed.

During Xi’s 2024 visit to France, he was seen walking unsteadily. At the trilateral meeting, while others used transparent glass cups, Xi alone had a black opaque thermos, and a wheelchair was reportedly prepared nearby for his interpreter.

These details further fueled suspicions that the Chinese leader—ever guarded, ever fearful—might indeed be ailing, both physically and politically. △