Media Reports on Jiang Zemin Death Rumors

Is the former CCP head Jiang Zemin dead?

That question seems to have a multitude of answers, depending on whom you ask. The Chinese regime says “no” and has admonished the West for suggesting otherwise. On July 6, the Hong Kong-based television network ATV ran an obituary segment on him—until the Chinese regime forced them to take it back and apologize.

As of the evening of July 7, Bloomberg’s Adam Minter wrote that he’s been wandering the neighborhood near the Jiang family compound, looking for signs that the rumors are true.

The latest news, reported by the New York-based Epoch Times newspaper, is that Jiang is alive, but only in body. Epoch Times reporters reference a July 9 story run in the Japanese paper Asahi Shimbun that claims Jiang is brain dead and on life support—with his family waiting for approval from the CCP inner circle to pull-the-plug.

The regime and its news mouthpiece Xinhua are mum.

But what has captured the attention of The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Epoch Times, and other leading Western news sources is the regime’s continued Internet censorship campaign—an effort to block or delete virtually every conceivable reference to Jiang and the state of his health.

According to these reports, his name is blocked. So is the character for his last name Jiang, which means “river.” The Chinese term for heart attack is also blocked. Also blocked are all searches related to the military hospital that treats CCP leaders, the “301 Hospital.” The Chinese word for death—blocked. Euphemisms for the Chinese word for death—also blocked. Cartoon drawings of a man wearing pants hiked-up to his chest—humorous and blocked.