Well, some time ago cuban federation wanted to help their players and thought about letting them play abroad, so they contacted some other federation (particulary brazilian) about the possibility of Cubans playing in other countries. And they got response from CBV and from China. Cuba wanted teams, that would include only cuban players, to play in Superleague, with brazilian teams, but the cuban teamt wouldn't gain any points from the matches. And CBV said no, they can't do that. Cuban players are welcomed to play in brazilian clubs, but no cuban team can play Superleague. And there was the second option - China. There is a cuban player in men's team, that came along with Canadians - Fred Winters and Steve Brinkman, though he didn't play in NT.
So, Palacios and Santos weren't a rumor according to Henan's president.