At Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's presser, eager reporters stop playing by the rules

Premier Li Keqiang's media conference after the annual National People's Congress plenum yesterday did not play out entirely according to script.

As host Fu Ying thanked Li and the journalists present at the press conference's close, some reporters stood up and shouted for Li's thoughts on the tense stand-off at the China-Myanmar border, where bombs killed five Chinese on Friday.

"Please answer a question about Myanmar," one journalist called out.

Li took just two questions related to diplomacy at the two-hour session and said nothing about Myanmar, a highly anticipated topic among the reporters that day.

"You all know the host makes the decisions at the press conference, especially when we have a female host. I respect women, so you decide," Li said to Fu.

Fu tried to end the event, but another reporter caught Li's attention and asked him to speak on the China-Myanmar border incident. The premier answered briefly, saying he was saddened by news of the deaths.

That was not the only unplanned incident at the press conference.