A former MP has claimed ex-Chinese president Jiang Zemin had been frogmarched out of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress just weeks before he died.
Former Queensland MP Steve Dickson used a Facebook video to cast suspicion over Mr Jiang’s death, telling his followers: “These opposition or people who get in the way and shouldn’t get in those meetings, they die for some reason….I don’t believe in accidents that much.”
But Mr Dickson’s claim is false. Mr Jiang, who died of leukaemia and multiple organ failure aged 96 on November 30, was not the man removed from the congress. It was his successor Hu Jintao, who is 17 years his junior.
In the video (archived here), Mr Dickson, who was an MP for the Liberal National Party and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, rails against the mainstream media, and in particular the ABC, adding: “We put these shows out to you because they (big broadcasters) never ever will (17m16s).
“So continue to spread the word and we’ll continue to fill you in with the best information we can give you.”
He then turns his attention to China, telling his followers: “You remember there was a little old fella sitting off to the side of him (current president Xi Jinping). He was the ex leader of the Chinese government, Jiang Zemin.
“It was only going back a few weeks ago when he was led out by some security guards and he was sitting two seats across from the leader of China. He’s dead.
“These opposition or people who get in the way and shouldn’t be in these meetings, they die for some reason. It’s a bit like anyone who has had anything to do with the Clintons.
“They have plane accidents, they fall off cliffs, they gas themselves, a whole lot of things happen. So look down deep into this sort of stuff because I don’t believe in accidents that much. These things happen for a reason and this poor old bugger is dead now and he’s gone.
“You would have seen it recently where they did march him out but they didn’t realise they did march him out to somewhere that he’s never coming back from.”
Mr Jiang was not at the October CCP Congress. He made his last public appearance in 2019 at a Tiananmen Square parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
He had made very few public appearances in recent years, with news reports dating back to 2011 citing his ill health.
The incident Mr Dickson refers to happened at the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress on October 22.
The footage of Mr Hu being escorted from the congress was broadcast around the world and fuelled rumours as to why he was removed.
He is seen sitting to the left of president Xi. The president leans over and says something to an aide before Mr Hu is led out.
Chinese state media agency Xinhua News reported at the time that Mr Hu had not been feeling well and had been taken from the venue for a rest.
Mr Dickson was a Queensland MP between 2006 and 2017. He made headlines in 2019 when he was caught on video courting and seeking political donations from the National Rifle Association.
He later resigned from One Nation after footage emerged of him groping dancers at a US strip club.
The Verdict
The claim that former Chinese president Jiang Zemin died just weeks after being escorted from the 2022 CCP Congress is false.
The man escorted was his successor Hu Jintao. Mr Jiang had not made a public appearance since 2019.
False – the claim is inaccurate.
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