A Chinese army singer who mysteriously disappeared from public view six years ago has made a surprising reappearance in local media — as the wife of the brother of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
In a rare glimpse into the life of the Xi family, a newspaper in the southern city of Shenzhen quoted the Chinese Communist Party leader’s younger brother, Xi Yuanping (習遠平), describing his marriage to singer Zhang Lanlan (張瀾瀾).
Zhang was a mainstay on glitzy Chinese TV shows for years, but reportedly made no further appearances after singing in China’s annual official New Year gala in 2008.
The report, which was quickly deleted from Chinese Web sites, quoted Xi Yuanping, 58, as saying that he had married the 34-year-old Zhang — nicknamed the “military’s top beautiful woman” — the same year.
“Lanlan is a simple and sincere woman,” the report — which showed the two seated together — quoted Xi as saying.
Xi Jinping similarly married military singer Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), who was herself for many years a mainstay of the New Year gala — the most watched TV show in the world.
China’s leaders are highly secretive and tightly restrict any reports about their private lives in local media.
Since her disappearance, Zhang, who also acted in several TV dramas as one of tens of thousands of entertainers who are also members of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has been subject to lurid rumors, some involving other senior members of the Chinese Communist Party.
The PLA has since its inception maintained its own entertainment troupes, who sometimes become wives and mistresses for officials of the ruling party — former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) has long been rumored to have conducted an affair with PLA entertainer Song Zuying (宋祖英).
Former deputy navy commander Wang Shouye (王守業) spent 12 million yuan (US$1.96 million) on five mistresses, all of whom were army performers, before being handed a suspended death penalty in 2006, state-run media reported.
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