Claim
Iran invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, but he will not attend and a high-level Chinese delegation will go instead — yet nobody claims China's president is skipping Iran under pressure.
“ईरान ने चाइना के राष्ट्रपति शीज जिनपिंग को अंतिम विदाई कार्यक्रम में शामिल होने का निमंत्रण भेजा लेकिन राष्ट्रपति शीज जिनपिंग भी इस कार्यक्रम में शामिल नहीं होंगे।... चाइना के लिए भी कोई यह नहीं कह रहा है कि उसके राष्ट्रपति किसी दबाव में ईरान नहीं जा रहे।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
The claim describes Ayatollah Khamenei's July 2026 state funeral. China confirmed on July 2, 2026 that Xi Jinping would not attend personally and instead sent He Wei, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, as his special envoy heading a senior delegation — exactly as the anchor stated. Russia similarly sent Medvedev for Putin, and no reporting framed Xi's non-attendance as buckling to pressure, consistent with the anchor's rhetorical point. The factual core (Xi invited but not attending; high-level Chinese delegation going instead) is corroborated by Chinese government statements and international wire coverage.
Evidence
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/3/irans-khamenei-funeral-which-world-leaders-are-attending Confirms Xi Jinping did not personally attend Khamenei's funeral; China was represented by He Wei, vice chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee, per China's MFA. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/wsrc/202607/t20260702_11956355.html China's Foreign Ministry announcement (July 2, 2026) that He Wei would attend the funeral of Iran's late supreme leader on China's behalf. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-02/china-sends-first-senior-official-to-iran-since-war-for-funeral Reports China sent its first senior official to Iran since the war for the funeral, with He Wei acting as Xi Jinping's special envoy rather than Xi attending. ✗ unreachable · HTTP 403
- https://english.news.cn/20260704/ddc2d696788948ec8d1591d591baf14d/c.html Xinhua confirms senior Chinese legislator He Wei attended the funeral and met Iran's president and parliament speaker — a high-level delegation. ✓ reachable · archived