Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has reappeared in public after a period of limited visibility, appearing relatively fit and composed. Eurasianet highlights that his renewed presence comes amid ongoing speculation about his health and political future, drawing attention both inside Tajikistan and internationally.

After a more-than-two-week absence from public view that raised concerns about whether he was alive or dead, Tajik leader Emomali Rahmon has reappeared, The Caspian Post republishes the article.

The Tajik service of RFE/RL reported that Rahmon had traveled to China to receive medical treatment for an undisclosed illness. If accurate, it would mark the first known occasion when an infirm leader from Central Asia opted to get treated in China, rather than in Moscow or in the West, offering yet another indicator of Beijing’s rising influence in the region.

Rahmon’s official website published a photo of him presiding over a meeting with local law enforcement officials on January 28. Over the next 17 days, there were only four short items posted on the presidential website, all without video or photos. It was not until February 14 that proof of life appeared, a photo of Rahmon shaking hands with the head of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. During the 17-day hiatus, presidential aides declined to comment on his health or his whereabouts.

According to RFE/RL’s report, citing informed sources, the Tajik leader had gone to China’s Hainan Island, a resort area, to receive some medical care, and/or get some sun. The 73-year-old Rahmon has long been rumored to suffer from debilitating diseases, including high blood pressure and heart failure. His 38-year-old son, Rustam Emomali, is widely expected to succeed Rahmon whenever the time comes.

Rahmon’s choice of China as a purported medical destination represents a break from past practice among Central Asian leaders, who have tended to rely on Western and Russian doctors for their care. After then Uzbek leader Islam Karimov suffered a massive and ultimately fatal brain hemorrhage in 2016, Uzbek officials solicited medical opinions from a variety of Western and Russian specialists. And former Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov reportedly traveled to Germany on several occasions to get treatment for heart failure. Niyazov died suddenly in Ashgabat in 2006 at the age of 66.