China censors wipe clip of Putin draping coat over Xi Jinping’s wife

BEIJING — Did Russian President Vladimir Putin try to flirt with the wife of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during an APEC summit event? That’s what some are wondering after footage showing Mr Putin draping a coat over China’s first lady, Ms Peng Liyuan’s, shoulders was aired last night (Nov 10).

The clip, aired on Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), showed Mr Putin chatting with Ms Peng during an APEC welcome banquet and fireworks at Beijing’s National Aquatics Centre. Ms Peng’s husband, Mr Xi, was seated next to them deep in conversation with United States President Barack Obama.

After a brief exchange, Mr Putin stood up and draped a coat over Ms Peng’s shoulders.

A CCTV commentator noticed the exchange and described the scene: “While waiting, the top leaders are gathered and chatting together animatedly. We just saw Mr Putin place his coat around Peng Liyuan’s shoulders.”

Immediately after, Ms Peng is seen smiling; but seconds later, she calls over an attendant to remove Mr Putin’s coat and replace it with her own black coat.

Chinese social media was abuzz over the incident, according to Foreign Policy magazine. Major Chinese news outlets including Sina and Phoenix Media quickly posted the video and a hashtag, “Putin Gives Peng Liyuan His Coat”, was spawned on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblogging site.

“The charisma of China’s first lady can’t be resisted, and it conquers Putin,” added one of a number of responses online.

But within hours of the video coming online, Chinese censors acted quickly to pull it off social media and websites in China. Beijing-based historian and independent commentator Zhang Lifan speculated that the authorities may have been concerned over the public image of Mr Xi and his wife.

"China is traditionally conservative on public interaction between unrelated men and women, and the public show of consideration by Putin may provide fodder for jokes, which the big boss (Mr Xi) probably does not like," Mr Zhang told the Associated Press.

The Associated Press added that while Mr Putin came off looking gallant, Mr Xi came off looking "gauche and inattentive".

Propaganda officials in the past have built the image of Mr Xi and his wife as a loving couple. Photos of Mr Xi shielding his wife from rain on a state visit, picking flowers for her, or simply holding her hand have circulated widely on China's social media.

Western media have labelled the incident “coatgate”. Some websites also noted that Mr Putin is recently single after divorcing his wife of 30 years, Ms Lyudmila Putina, in April.

Professor Li Xin, director of Russian and central Asian studies at Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said Mr Putin was just being a proper Russian and did nothing out-of-line diplomatically.

"It's a tradition in Russia for a man of dignity to respect ladies on public occasions, and in a cold country like Russia, it is very normal that a gentleman should help ladies take on and off their coats," Prof Li said. "But the Chinese may not be accustomed to that."

Sources: Foreign Policy, CNN, Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press