Former Chinese President Hu Jintao is escorted out of the Party Congress

BEIJING (Reuters) – Former Chinese President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly escorted outside the closing ceremony of a congress of the ruling Communist Party on Saturday.

Hu, 79, Xi Jinping’s direct predecessor, was seated to Xi’s left. A Reuters witness at the conference said he was taken from the stage by two hosts in the main hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Video captured by AFP showed a host repeatedly trying to lift Hu from his seat, alarming several officials seated nearby.

China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu, seated to Hu Jintao’s right, gave the former chief’s file to the host, wiping his head with a cloth after Hu finally stood up.

Hu Jintao looked sad as he resisted leaving as the hosts escorted him outside and returned to his seat at one point. On his way out, he exchanged words with Xi and patted Premier Li Keqiang on the shoulder, seated to Xi’s right.

He seemed a little uneasy last Sunday when he was helped at the same stage to attend the opening ceremony of the conference.

The congress, held once every five years, concluded with amendments to the Party’s constitution, which strengthened Xi’s core position and the guiding role of his political thought within the Party.

(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Ryan Wu) Editing by Robert Purcell, Lincoln Fest and William Mallard

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