While most American news junkies are focused on Vladimir Putin getting his ass-kicked by the Ukrainians, many of us are also paying special attention to the Russian president not only calling up 300,000 reservists, but also waving his nuclear sword at both Kiev and NATO in general.
In the meantime, reputable China-watchers are noting that at a minimum, at least something is going on Beijing.
And the folks at the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) certainly don’t want the West knowing what’s going on. At least for now.
Business Today (India) reporter Vivek Dubey notes via MSN.com that Chinese President Xi Jinping could very well be under house arrest while Commanding General of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is rumored to have taken control of the government.
As reported by Dubey (emphasis mine);
Speculation about Chinese President Xi Jinping being placed under house arrest has taken over social media. Rumours are doing the rounds on social media that Xi has been removed as the chief of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and China’s capital, Beijing, is currently under the army’s control.
This comes a day after a former top security official was sentenced to life in prison by the Chinese court. He was believed to be part of anti-Xi “political clique”. Another two people associated with the group were similarly given suspended death sentences and three others received lengthy prison terms this week.
Meanwhile, other rumours circulating on the Internet include Li Qiaoming, the General serving for the Chinese PLA, has replaced Xi Jinping as China’s ruler.
However, there is no official confirmation from the Chinese Communist Party or the state media about these rumours.
There are also rumours that both international and domestic flights to and from Beijing have been halted and that the city has been cut off from the rest of the world. More rumours claim nearly 60 per cent of flights in China were grounded without any explanation on Friday.
In the meantime, noted and reputable China-watchers, Jennifer Zeng and Gordon Chang, have sounded off on social media.
Zeng cites of an 80-kilometer military convoy headed directly towards Beijing.
Chang is a bit more cautious in his tweet, but does note “There’s a lot of smoke, which means there is a fire somewhere inside the #CCP. #China is unstable.”
#PLA military vehicles heading to #Beijing on Sep 22. Starting from Huanlai County near Beijing & ending in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, entire procession as long as 80 KM. Meanwhile, rumor has it that #XiJinping was under arrest after #CCP seniors removed him as head of PLA pic.twitter.com/hODcknQMhE
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) September 23, 2022
This video of military vehicles moving to #Beijing comes immediately after the grounding of 59% of the flights in the country and the jailings of senior officials. There’s a lot of smoke, which means there is a fire somewhere inside the #CCP. #China is unstable. https://t.co/hSUS3210GR
— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) September 24, 2022