Chinese President Xi Jinping’s close aide Li Qiang was appointed as the new premier of the country on March 11, 2023. Li Qiang, aged 63, is a trusted associate of Xi and served as his chief of staff during the period between 2004 and 2007. At that time, Xi was the provincial party secretary in Zhejiang Province, eastern region of China.
Against this backdrop, an image of a person shaking hands with Rahul Gandhi is widely shared on social media, claiming that he is Li Qiang, China’s new premier. Many users also claim that he is an old friend of Rahul Gandhi and has made a statement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The image is shared on Facebook with a caption: “जिनपिंग के नए प्रधान मंत्री ली क्विंग का सबसे पहला बयान : भारत से मोदी का हटना जरूरी है। वरना चीन कमजोर हो जायेगा। ये ली क्विंग इस पप्पू का पुराना यार है। इस खेल को समझो सनातनियो।” (English translation: The first statement of Jinping’s new Prime Minister Li Qing: Modi’s withdrawal from India is necessary. Otherwise, China will become weak. And Li Qing is an old friend of Pappu. Understand this game Sanatanis)
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be FALSE.
Doing a Reverse Image Search, we traced a news report carrying the same viral image, dated June 18, 2020, with a caption: “Rahul Gandhi (L), son of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, head of India’s ruling Congress Party, meets with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) at Zhongnanhai in Beijing, 26 October 2007.”
Another news report also carried the same viral image on October 26, 2007, with a headline: “Sonia, Rahul Gandhi meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.” Searching further, we found the viral image uploaded on Getty Images on October 26, 2007, with the same information. And Wen Jiabao was the Prime Minister of China from 2003 to 2013.
We could not find any recent credible media report verifying the veracity of the viral statement attributed to Li Qiang.
Thus, it is evident from the above information that an old image of Rahul Gandhi with China’s former premier Jiabao is shared with false claims.
If you want to fact-check any story, WhatsApp it now on +91 11 7127 9799
Error: Contact form not found.
Click here for Latest News updates and viral videos n our AI-powered smart news