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| Tale of China’s Leader in a Taxicab Is Retracted | Tale of China’s Leader in a Taxicab Is Retracted |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| HONG KONG — Cabs in China’s capital are notoriously hard to flag down, but chauffeur-borne senior officials rarely need a ride, and on Thursday uproar erupted over a report, later retracted, that the country’s top leader had taken a clandestine ride to mix with ordinary people. | |
| A Hong Kong newspaper that often publishes stories favorable to the Chinese government, Ta Kung Pao, reported that the Chinese Communist Party chief, Xi Jinping, took a $4.40 ride from an inner-city Beijing neighborhood known for its bars to a hotel on the west side of town, bringing momentary celebrity to his reported cabby, Guo Lixin, and plaudits for Mr. Xi. | |
| China’s official Xinhua news agency first confirmed the story through its feed on the country’s Twitter-like “Weibo” service, citing city transportation authorities and the Hong Kong newspaper. But later a Xinhua bulletin said the report was false, and Ta Kung Pao removed the report and a special Web page about what appeared to be a propaganda coup. The story was reported by several media outlets, including The New York Times. | |
| “Checking has established that this was a false report, and we feel deeply distressed and extremely regretful about this,” the paper said in a statement on its Web site. “Such a major case of false news should absolutely never have happened.” | |
| Initially, some citizens had praised Mr. Xi’s apparent taxi trip as a welcome break from the security that isolates him and other party leaders from the public. It was quickly featured on many Chinese news Web sites citing the Ta Kung Pao report. But the retraction brought criticism of the Hong Kong newspaper and Xinhua. | |
| “Real one moment, and bogus the next,” the Chinese writer Cao Junshu wrote on his Weibo page. “Are you the authority for publishing real news, or fake news?” | |
| The report had appeared to be one of a succession of down-to-earth gestures Mr. Xi has made since November when he succeed Hu Jintao as party leader. Mr. Xi took over from Mr. Hu as president in March. Mr. Xi has demanded an end to banquets on the government bill, and told officials to stop having the police close off roads when they travel. | The report had appeared to be one of a succession of down-to-earth gestures Mr. Xi has made since November when he succeed Hu Jintao as party leader. Mr. Xi took over from Mr. Hu as president in March. Mr. Xi has demanded an end to banquets on the government bill, and told officials to stop having the police close off roads when they travel. |
| The Ta Kung Pao newspaper initially thought enough of Mr. Xi’s ride to put up a special site, showing a map of the journey and pictures of Mr. Guo’s modest brick and concrete home in the rural northeast outskirts of Beijing. But the site was later removed. Calls to the company operating the cab reportedly driven by Mr. Guo were not answered during the day. | The Ta Kung Pao newspaper initially thought enough of Mr. Xi’s ride to put up a special site, showing a map of the journey and pictures of Mr. Guo’s modest brick and concrete home in the rural northeast outskirts of Beijing. But the site was later removed. Calls to the company operating the cab reportedly driven by Mr. Guo were not answered during the day. |
| In February, Mr. Xi promised to fix conditions for Beijing taxi drivers, and this week the city government proposed policies that it said will raise their incomes and make it easier to find a ride. | In February, Mr. Xi promised to fix conditions for Beijing taxi drivers, and this week the city government proposed policies that it said will raise their incomes and make it easier to find a ride. |
| Even before the report was taken down, some were skeptical, online and on Beijing’s streets. | |
| “I don’t believe you,” said Wang Yue, a cabby. “President Xi out by himself? Without all his bodyguards? Was the taxi followed by vans full of security guards? There is no way President Xi was taking taxis with only another person.” | |
Mia Li contributed research from Beijing | Mia Li contributed research from Beijing |