"We apologise to the audience, Jiang Zemin and his family," Asia Television Ltd (ATV), one of the two free-to-view broadcasters in the southern Chinese city, said in a one-paragraph statement.
The broadcaster had cited unspecified sources and reported late Wednesday that the 84-year-old former Chinese leader had died. It said it would air a special one-hour programme on Jiang but later cancelled it.
Rumours surfaced last week that Jiang may be seriously ill after he failed to appear at the celebrations marking the Communist Party`s 90th birthday.
China state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday denied reports claiming Jiang -- who reportedly still wields a lot of power in the inner party sanctum -- had died as "pure rumour", quoting "authoritative sources".
Apart from ATV, Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun also reported that Jiang had died in Beijing, quoting "a source involved in Japan-China relations".
Jiang stepped down as the country`s president in 2003 after guiding the nation through more than a decade of blistering economic growth, marked by a lack of corresponding political reforms.
(Uu.SYS/B002)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
