A cause of death was not given, and as his death occurred during the festive Beijing Olympics, it was not given much attention on state media: merely a 30-second broadcast on the national news program Xinwen Lianbo and a short paragraph on the corner of the front page of the People's Daily.
Kematiannya terjadi selama perayaan Olimpiade Beijing, dan tidak banyak perhatian dari media pemerintah: Hanyalah siaran 30 detik pada program berita nasional Xinwen Lianbo dan sebuah paragraf singkat di sudut halaman depan Harian Rakyat.