Moments between Xi and people with disabilities

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with representatives attending a ceremony commending role models with disabilities and people who have made outstanding contributions in helping the disabled, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Du Chengcheng, a community worker in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, did not expect a thank you from President Xi Jinping.

Xi said this to Du during his visit to the community in April 2018 after he learned that this young woman in a wheelchair had been interpreting movies for the visually impaired since 2010.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has always borne people with disabilities in mind.

He said people with disabilities are equal members of the whole community and pushed for society-wide efforts to support them.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shakes hands with delegates to the seventh national congress of the China Disabled Persons' Federation in Beijing, capital of China, on Sept. 14, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Xi himself talks with people with disabilities whenever seeing them during meetings or local inspections, and his words bring them warmth and encouragement.

While the country marks the 31st National Day for Helping the Disabled on Sunday, here is a recollection of Xi's interactions with the disabled in the past years.

PAT ON THE SHOULDER

In May 2019, at a ceremony to commend role models with disabilities, a young man in military uniform stood straight and firm, but his eyes were covered with gauze. His arms were amputated.

The young man's name is Du Fuguo. He lost his eyes and arms in 2018 when trying to protect others during a border-area mine clearance operation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with representatives attending a ceremony commending role models with disabilities and people who have made outstanding contributions in helping the disabled, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

As Xi stopped in front of him, Du saluted with his residual arm and shouted a greeting. Xi gently held his elbow with one hand and patted him on the shoulder with the other in encouragement.

Images of the "special salute" and the pat on the shoulder soon became trending scenes on the Internet. Support and messages of solidarity poured in for Du. And he became an icon for self-strengthening.

In July 2019, Xi met Du again in Beijing, conferring the title "Heroic Demining Soldier" on him. Xi hung a medal around Du's neck, presented him with a certificate, and posed for a photo.

SIGN LANGUAGE

"'Thumb ups' is 'good' and bending it is 'thank you'." Xi was learning sign language with a hearing-impaired girl, Wang Yani, in her dormitory at a welfare home for orphans and disabled children.

He was delighted to see that these children have a happy life in this home during his visit to the northern Chinese city of Hohhot before the Spring Festival of 2014.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) learns the sign language for "thanks" from Wang Yani (C) and Yan Zhijing at the Children Welfare House of Hohhot City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jan. 28, 2014. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

"I'm four, a boy." "I'm five."

A group of children who were rehearsing for a Spring Festival gala gathered around the president. Xi smiled, crouched down, and cuddled one of them.

He then called for kindheartedness and love for children, especially orphans and the disabled, from across society for their healthy growth.

EXEMPLIFYING TENACITY

Yang Yufang and his wife Gao Zhihong became paraplegic after the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province, in 1976.

Xi met the couple when he visited a paraplegic rehabilitation center in Tangshan in 2016 when the city marked the 40th year of its reconstruction after the earthquake.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R front), who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), visits paraplegic patients at the city's paraplegic rehabilitation center in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province, July 28, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Xi talked with them and was glad to learn that the couple had been able to work as much as their strength would permit, blend into society, and live independently.

They were excited to meet the president and presented Xi with the poems they wrote as a gift.

Their story exemplified the tenacity and charm of life, Xi said. He told other residents that if people with a sound physical condition can have a brilliant life, people with disabilities can do likewise.