#ChinaCoup has become one of the most trending tweets on Twitter over the weekend, suggesting that there is an ongoing military coup and that Xi Jinping has been placed under house arrest by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. As Newsweekreports:
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Tens of thousands of accounts on Twitter spread unconfirmed rumors that the president was detained and overthrown.
The rumor grew also by unconfirmed reports of flights in Beijing being cancelled on Sunday, and a long military convoy heading towards the city.
Unconfirmed sources of the rumor
According to Firstpost, the rumor started on social media by unverified accounts. On Twitter, an account called New Highland Vision with over 20,000 followers, wrote on the 22nd of September that former Chinese leaders including former President Hu Jintao had taken control of the Central Guard Bureau (CGB) from Xi.
ThePrint reported yesterday that speculation grew also after Xi missed the national defence and military reform seminar.
According to Newsweek, the rumor was also fueled by Indian politician Subramanian Swamy, who tweeted it to his 10 million followers.
New rumour to be checked out: Is Xi jingping 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.
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) September 24, 2022
Unsubstantiated rumors
The #ChinaCoup rumor remains what it is: a rumor. No major news outlet did confirm the alleged coup in China or the wild claim that Xi Jinping has been detained or overthrown.
A number of reputable sources also refute the rumor. In their report Newsweek, has cited Frida Ghitis, a world affairs columnist and former CNN correspondent, who dismissed the 'wild rumors' by saying ‘there is no evidence that this is true’.
According to asiaMARKETS, the Chinese state media agency Xinhua released a statement on Sunday claiming that close to 2,300 Communist Party delegates will support Xi Jinping for an unprecedented third term as President of China at next month’s 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
Xi Jinping's latest public appearance, at least on the global stage, was a little less than two weeks ago when attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Uzbekistan, where he also held talks with Russia's president Vladimir Putin.
Sources used:
- Newsweek: ‘Xi Jinping Trends Online Amid Coup Rumors, Canceled Flights’
- Firstpost: ‘Explained: The truth behind the ‘coup’ against China’s Xi Jinping’
- ThePrint: ‘Here’s how rumours of Xi Jinping’s ‘arrest’ and ‘coup’ started’
- asiaMARKETS: ‘China coup rumors quashed by state media’
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