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Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) helps put a blanket on Peng Liyuan, wife of China's President Xi Jinping, as they watch watch a lights and fireworks show to celebrate Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting, at National Aquatics Center, or Water Cube, in Beijing, November 10, 2014. CHINA STRINGER NETWORK, REUTERS

BEIJING -- It was a warm gesture on a chilly night when Vladimir Putin wrapped a shawl around the wife of Xi Jinping while the Chinese president chatted with Barack Obama. The only problem: Putin came off looking gallant, the Chinese summit host gauche and inattentive.

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Worse still were off-color jokes that began to circulate about the real intentions of the divorced Russian president - a heartthrob among many Chinese women for his macho, man-of-action image.

That was too much for the Chinese authorities.

The incident at a performance linked to this week's Asia-Pacific summit originally was broadcast on state broadcaster CCTV and spread online as a forwarded video. But it was soon scrubbed clean from the Chinese Internet, reflecting the intense control authorities exert over any material about top leaders while also pointing to cultural differences over what's considered acceptable behavior in public.

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"China is traditionally conservative on public interaction between unrelated men and women, and the public show of consideration by Putin may provide fodder for jokes, which the big boss probably does not like," said Beijing-based historian and independent commentator Zhang Lifan.

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Putin's gesture to leader's wife covered up by Chinese