Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, the king of Malaysia, wept during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the conversation turned to his late son, a leading Chinese-language Malaysian newspaper reported.
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According to the Sin Chew Daily, Sultan Ibrahim was in tears as he mentioned his son, who died in 2015 aged 25 after battling liver cancer. He also thanked China for its part in his medical treatment.
The king arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day state visit marking the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations. It is the first trip to China by a Malaysian monarch in 10 years, and Sultan Ibrahim’s first overseas state visit since being crowned in July.
In Malaysia’s constitutional monarchy, the throne usually rotates every five years between the rulers of nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty.
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Meeting Xi at the Great Hall of the People on Friday, the Malaysian king shared heartfelt memories of his late son, Tunku Abdul Jalil Iskandar Ibrahim, who had received treatment at a hospital in China.