UPDATE: Adding even more to the confusion, there are reports that Xinhua mistranslated Wen's remarks today. Will review a recording of him speaking and update as needed.

UPDATE 2: After a review of the video of Wen speaking, it seems that the Xinhua translation may have been a little off the mark . Wen didn't say that he had checked out of a hospital, but he did say that he'd been in "bing chuang" (sick bed) for 11 days, a phrase commonly used to refer to a hospital bed or ... just being sick in bed. I'll be conservative and mark out the word "hospital" below, though I'll note that as of 9:41 pm Beijing time, the Xinhua article was still online.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding Saturday's crash of two high-speed trains in coastal Zhejiang Province, and Premier Wen Jiabao's reported remarks today added a small bit more. I'll go with the English Xinhua translations here.

Today, Xinhua reported Wen saying that his visit to the scene of the crash had been delayed by illness:

Premier Wen speaks to press on fatal train crash while suffering illness   English.news.cn   2011-07-28 12:59:53 FeedbackPrintRSS WENZHOU, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that medical problems delayed his visit to the site of the fatal crash of two high-speed trains in eastern China that killed 39 people. Wen, who was in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, to mourn victims and express condolences to the relatives of the dead, did not specify the nature of the illness. "I am ill, having spent 11 days in bed, but I managed to come today only after my doctor reluctantly allowed me to check out of hospital. This is why I didn't come here sooner," the premier told reporters. Wen vowed to "severely punish" those responsible for the train crash and said safety would be the top priority for the country's high-speed rail technology exports.

Wen did not specify when he was ill, or when he was released from the hospital. But the Xinhua story suggests that he'd checked out of the hospital been ill very recently.

So, it caught my attention that Xinhua had carried a photograph and report on Sunday, the day after the train wreck, covering Wen's meeting that day with a Japanese trade delegation:

English.news.cn   2011-07-24 18:51:51

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R front) meets with Kono Yohei, delegation head of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade in Beijing, capital of China, July 24, 2011. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday called for broader cooperation with Japan, as a Japanese trade delegation is currently visiting China.

"The two sides should grasp the opportunity provided by China's developmental transformation and Japan's reconstruction (following the earthquake and tsunami disasters in March) and actively expand our cooperation," Wen said during a meeting with a delegation from the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade.

And a few days earlier, Xinhua had reported Wen meeting with Cameroon's president:

English.news.cn   2011-07-21 20:26:14

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