Former Chinese President Hu Jintao made his first public appearance this week since his notable exit at the Communist Party congress in October.
Footage from state television CCTV showed him attending the ceremony on Monday (December 5th) at the Army General Hospital in Beijing, honoring former President Jiang Zemin, just before the cremation.
He is seen standing next to President Xi Jinping while an aide stands close to him, as senior leaders bow three times in a row to the remains of Jiang Zemin.
Then he appears walking unsteadily, with the help of the same aide, while party cadres walk around the remains and talk with Jiang Zemin's widow.
Escorted out of the Communist Party Congress
In October, Hu Jintao, 79, appeared aging and tired at the Communist Party congress.
On the last day, he had been escorted, in front of the cameras, out of the great hall of the People's Palace where the closing ceremony of the congress was taking place.
An incident that had disturbed the perfectly choreographed sequence paving the way for a third term for Xi Jinping.
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State media later claimed he had felt unwell, but his visible displeasure as he was led away led to speculation about possible political motives behind his departure.
Some in particular had interpreted the incident as a clear political message that Xi Jinping wanted to send to those who wanted to oppose his third term.
In his opening speech at the congress, the latter claimed to have rectified the vast problems hampering China and the party, inherited according to him from his predecessors including Hu Jintao, such as corruption and the unequal distribution of wealth.
And Hu Chunhua, protege of Hu Jintao and whose name circulated to join the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the party - the summit of power in China -, had not been selected in the end.
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The new Standing Committee is now only made up of supporters and allies of Xi Jinping.
On the internet, censorship erased any reference to Hu Jintao's unexpected departure from the congress soon after the incident.