Did Michelle meet China's secretive princess Xi Mingze? Chinese first daughter is nowhere to be seen as Obama and the girls dine behind closed doors at Beijing function
- Not much is known about Xi Mingze other than she transferred to attend college at Harvard about two years ago
- There are only two confirmed pictures of her- one when she was 10 and another when she was 5
- Michelle Obama and her two daughters are on a week-long trip to China
- Xi Mingze, who is on spring break from Harvard, was expected to join the other first daughters for dinner in Beijing
Scroll down for video
The First Lady's trip to China has hit a slight road bump after one of their highly-awaited guests appears to have missed a formal dinner.
The Obamas were expected to meet the highly-reclusive Chinese princess Xi Mingze during a formal dinner on Friday night during their tour of China but she was nowhere to be seen.
Much about Xi Mingze has been kept a secret to Chinese and foreign media but she is believed to be a student at Harvard University now and there were reports that she would travel to her homeland to meet Mrs Obama, her mother and her daughters because Harvard is in the middle of their spring break.
Law enforcement sources originally reported that that Xi Mingze, 22, whose nickname is 'Muzi,' was believed to have returned to China from her off-campus apartment in East Cambridge that she rents under an alias, but she has not been seen since her alleged arrival.
A welcomed visit: First Lady Michelle Obama toured the Summer Palace on Saturday (pictured), which marked the third day of her trip to China with her daughters and mother
On display: They Malia (center) and Sasha (right) were at their mother's side as they watched the Peking Opera troup perform during the tour
Enthusiastic: Mrs Obama showed some spirit at one point in the performance on Saturday
Xi Mingze – who has never appeared in public with her parents in China, according to Chinese media reports – moved to the off-campus apartment this semester, says one law enforcement source who has been briefed on the significant security around s daughter, told MailOnline exclusively.
The 'unassuming' only daughter of Chinese President Xi Jinpingi, who is also the leader of the Communist Party, lived in a Harvard University dorm under a pseudonym while surrounded by a phalanx of 'Chinese students' who are part of her around-the-clock security detail, said the source.
‘She is very-low key and her security detail are here masked as fellow students so they blend in,’ said the law enforcement source.
Harvard classmates describe her as ‘studious and discreet’.
Key seating: Mrs Obama and her entourage rode a boat during the visit at the Summer Palace
Far from home: She met with a group of American students who traveled to China on their spring break
It remained unclear if Princess Xi
Mingze was part of that tour, but the law enforcement source said police
were briefed on the Chinese First Daughter’s whereabouts before spring
break began Monday.
Muzi’s mother, Peng Liyuan is a
renowned honey-voiced megastar of popular Chinese folk music known for
her fashion and glamor, much like her guest, Michelle Obama.
Peng guided the First Family through the Forbidden Palace and showed off her calligraphy talents with an entourage of admirers and photographers in tow.
‘She was expected to return to China to attend a dinner for Michelle Obama,’ the source said.
Friends at Harvard say she devotes herself to her courses, which include political studies. She attended a discussion last spring about the political tumult convulsing China's Communist Party, where she reportedly listened 'intently' from the top row of the lecture hall.
Meeting fans: The First Lady met with students at the Stanford University Center at Peking University in Beijing later on Saturday
Avoiding controversy: Mrs Obama has tried to keep the trip apolitical, and when she has spoken out it is in favor of widely-accepted topics like the importance of studying aboad
Xi
Mingze has maintained a low profile at Harvard University, unlike
Michelle Obama’s husband President Barack Obama, who graduated from
Harvard Law School.
Harvard graduate student and PhD
candidate Jennifer Yum, 30, said she was not surprised that the leader
of China’s Communist Party would send his only daughter to Harvard.
Yum
was interviewed at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies on
Cambridge Street, which just last September hosted a lecture event
titled: ‘Xi Jingpin and China’s Future: The Critical Issues’.
‘Harvard is where the powerful come to study. If you are an elite in the world, you study at Harvard,’ said Yum.
Yum,
like other students interviewed, said that she was aware that Xi
Mingze’s father has prohibited many of the very elements of free speech
that are encouraged at Harvard.
‘I still don't think it's hypocritical that the President sent his daughter here’, Yum said. ‘Maybe she can learn how to be a better leader.’
The daughters who showed up: Sasha (far left) and Malia joined the American Ambassador Max Baucus and Mrs Obama for their meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan on Friday
Formal: The President's greeting came as something of a coup since he was not expected to appear since President Obama is not a part of the trip
Tourist: Michelle Obama visits the Forbidden City with Peng Liyuan (2nd right), the wife of President Xi Jinping
Say cheese! Sasha, Malia, Mrs Obama, Peng Liyuan, and Marian Robinson pose for a photo in front of the Forbidden City on Friday
First ladies: Mrs Obama and her daughters will dine with her Chinese counterpart, Peng Liyuan (pictured) and her rarely-seen 22-year-old daughter
One of the most controversial talking
points that Mrs Obama addressed was when she spoke to students on
Saturday came when she touched on freedom of speech.
China blocks many foreign news sites and social media services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Its army of censors routinely filters out information deemed offensive by the government and silences dissenting voices.
Though
not likely to be well-received by the government, Mrs. Obama's remarks
may not draw any strong protest because her speech and a subsequent
moderated discussion among 50 students - sitting in two identical
conference rooms in Beijing and Palo Alto, California, but connected via
modern technology - focused mainly on the value of educational
exchanges.
Mrs. Obama
said the free flow of information is crucial 'because that's how we
discover truth, that's how we learn what's really happening in our
communities and our country and our world.'
'And that's how we decide which values and ideas we think are best - by questioning and debating them vigorously, by listening to all sides of every argument and by judging for ourselves,' she said.
- Penis pic accidentally shown on local news
- Chinese student leaps to his death in the middle of a lesson
- It's a clown car! FIVE Basset Hounds cram into tiny house
- The moment conspiracy theorists first noticed the mystery...
- Adorable toddler dances himself awake to Bruno Mars
- Dutch foundation fulfills dying wishes of terminal patients
- Three-year-old boy makes powerful plea for cupcakes
- Lucky bicyclist saved by mattress after being hit by truck
- Take a tour of one man's dream 'Dome Home' built for $9,000
- Coco Austin reveals how she keeps her curves with workout
- China says it has located a large 72ft object in the Indian...
- L'Wren Scott and Mick Jagger speaking in 'last interview'
- Beijing hotel workers already 'fed up' with Obama entourage...
- Missing jet WAS carrying highly flammable lithium batteries:...
- Transcript of final 54 minutes from MH370 flight deck begs...
- Malaysian woman claims to have seen missing MH370 in the...
- MH370 LATEST: China says satellite has located 72ft object...
- Russian millionaire on the run after beating his girlfriend...
- How Hitler's photographer returned to Dachau concentration...
- Final farewell: The heartbreaking moment a giraffe gives...
- L'Wren Scott's brother moves her funeral to Los Angeles at...
- Russian troops open fire on Ukraine troops after they refuse...
- Man charged with murder after he 'accosted man walking...
- Michael Schumacher has lost 25 per cent of his body weight...
Hillthur, Decorah, moments ago
Mail Online is encouraging idiots to post hate comments about President Obama and his family. They always moderate comments in advance if the subject of a story is someone they like. For example, the royal family or conservative American politicians are always protected from unnecessary insults. This is gutter journalism at its best.