September 25, 2022
What the heck is going on in China?
By Andrea Widburg
Something weird is taking place in China but, as of this writing, nobody is quite sure what’s happening. Social media has lit up with information, some of which is verifiable and some of which is pure speculation. The most widely spread rumor is that there is a coup being carried out against Xi Jinping, but that’s also the least likely thing to be taking place according to experienced China watchers.
We know that, on Saturday, there were fewer commercial flights over Beijing than usual. There’ve also been rumors that trains and buses into and out of Beijing have been canceled, and claims that military vehicles have been seen heading for Beijing, although there’s no reliable provenance for that particular short video.
According to Newsweek, the most prominent source for the story is an Indian politician:
The rumor was also fueled by Indian politician Subramanian Swamy, who tweeted to his 10 million followers on Saturday: “New rumour to be checked out: Is Xi Jingping [sic] under house arrest in Beijing? When Xi was in Samarkand recently, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party were supposed to have removed Xi from the Party's in-charge of Army. Then House arrest followed. So goes the rumour.”
However, on Friday, Drew Thompson, a former State Department official located in Singapore, wrote an extended and credible Twitter thread challenging the rumors:
https://twitter.com/TangAnZhu/status/1573459292883390464more
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/09/what_the_heck_is_going_on_in_china.html
