A coup to boot Xi? Internet explodes with rumours of Chinese prez house arrest, military swarming Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Unconfirmed rumours of a coup in China are doing rounds on social media, especially Twitter, for the last two days. Hundreds of Internet users are posting claims that Chinese president Xi Jinping has been removed as the head of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and placed under house arrest.

Some users are saying that PLA military vehicles were spotted heading to Beijing on September 22. Unverified commentary on cancelled passenger flights in some parts of China is also invoking huge interest amongst users.

The 'coup' planning

Social media buzz suggests that the ‘coup’ was planned and executed when Xi was in Samarkhand for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, which was also attended by several heads of state including prime minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Rumours point to internal revolt in PLA over Beijing's strict ‘Zero Covid Policy’ which mandates rigorous quarantine.

Flights cancellation

Several media reports claimed that Beijing airport has cancelled a whopping 6,000 domestic and international flights, a 60 percent cancellation rate.

In addition, 652 flights were cancelled at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, with a 54 percent cancellation rate. Similarly, 542 flights got cancelled at Shenzhen Baoan Airport, accounting for 51 percent of total flights, according to a report.

Military movement

Author Gordon G Chang, who has nearly two lakh followers on Twitter, posted that military vehicles moving to Beijing after cancellation of flights signals that 'there is a fire somewhere inside' the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

"This video of military vehicles moving to Beijing comes immediately after the grounding of 59 per cent 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," he tweeted.

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