Rare Official Remarks on Health Status of Leaders Changing Jobs

(Beijing) – Rare references to health issues as the reasons two senior officials stepped down have prompted discussions over the public's right to information versus protecting civil servants' privacy.

The legislature of the northwestern region of Ningxia said on January 8 that He Xueqing, a vice chairman of the people's congress' standing committee, had resigned for health reasons. He, 61, was appointed vice Communist Party secretary of the region's legislature, a less prominent position.