China's Jiang appears in public after speculation

BEIJING -- China's retired President Jiang Zemin has made a rare public appearance at a Beijing ceremony months after speculation that he had died or was close to death.

The 85-year-old Jiang took his seat on stage at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday at an official event commemorating the centennial anniversary of the 1911 revolution that overthrew imperial rule on the mainland.

Jiang led the country through massive changes after the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement.

Jiang's failure to appear at a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party's founding in July sparked intense online speculation that he had died. The government dismissed such reports as rumor.

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