Update: 9.24.22: Jennifer Zeng now says her family knows a PLA admiral, who confirms that Pres. Xi has been removed as head of the Central Military Commission. However, the admiral apparently denies that Xi has been removed as President or Chairman of the CCP, so far. A video of Zeng explaining what she believes about Xi's status, is embedded with this story.
9.23.22 Multiple reports say that the CCP Congress did not go well for Xi Jinping. Rumor has it that he is under arrest, as an 80 kilometer long column of armored vehicles moves into position in Hebei province, just West of Beijing. That's a 50 mile line of armored vehicles.
"Something is up in #China. The rumors remind us, once again, that the country is volatile and very few outsiders know what happens in senior #CCP circles. Stay tuned for announcements, news, info, rumors, tidbits, and gossip." @gordonchang, 12:45 pm PST on Friday. Chang later tweeted that "#Coup rumors in #China are probably false, but something is happening."
'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." tweeted Gordon Chang at 7 pm PST.
Chang retweeted Theresa Fallon, a US professor of Central Asian studies: "Rumors are swirling across the internet of a military coup in China and that Xi Jinping is under arrest after CCP seniors removed him as head of the PLA. Is the massive cancellation of flights in China just a military exercise, or is there something more to it?" @theresaafallon.
Here is a tweet from an ordinarily reliable reporter, Jennifer Zeng 曾錚@jenniferatntd: "#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."
The rumors have been circulating for about 24 hours. It's interesting that Xi Jinping has not appeared publicly to deny them, as one might expect.
@theresaafallon via twitter
Rumors are swirling across the internet of a military coup in China and that Xi Jinping is under arrest after CCP seniors removed him as head of the PLA. Is the massive cancellation of flights in China just a military exercise, or is there something more to it?
The National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is taking place in Beijing. President Xi was seeking a third 5 year term as President and head of the PLA. He has not been popular recently, due to Covid lockdowns in cities such as Shanghai.
CCP is the Chinese Communist Party, which has ruled mainland China with an iron fist since 1949. The CCP Party Congress meets every five years to elect new leadership. They are gathered in Beijing this week, and definitely have the authority to remove Xi under the Country's one party system.
PLA stands for "People's Liberation Army," the Chinese army. China has 1,500,000,000 people, easily the world's largest population and more than the population of Europe and the US combined. The world's largest army by number of soldiers, the PLA steps in to "restore order" when stability in the autocracy that is China, seems to be failing.
The author has an MA in Russian and East European Studies from Stanford University.