~ One essential item for a journalist covering a meeting of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) is a pair of binoculars. The seats assigned to journalists in the Great Hall of the People are so far back, you need those since your eyes will inevitably be fixed on the figure of President Xi Jinping, 67, seated far away in the center of the tiered stage. Of special interest is what occurs immediately after the closing ceremony. You want to see what Xi does and who he might talk to before he leaves the podium. Since I am no longer posted to Beijing, I don’t have the opportunity to use my binoculars. However, when looking at news photos of what transpired following the closing ceremony at this year’s NPC, and I saw one particular photo, I said, “Oh!”