Unsubstantiated speculation swirled Saturday morning that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been locked down in isolation amid a potential coup.
Far East expert Gordon Chang said the rumor is likely “untrue,” but he noted there is something unusual going on in China and “there is turbulence” among the Chinese Communist Party leadership.
“The lack of news from #China over the last few hours suggests coup rumors are untrue, but whatever happened inside the #Chinese military during the last three days — evidently something unusual occurred — tells us there is turbulence inside the senior #CCP leadership,” Chang tweeted Saturday morning.
That tweet came after Friday night’s tweet suggesting where there is smoke, there is likely fire, according to Chang.
“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,” Chang tweeted. “There’s a lot of smoke, which means there is a fire somewhere inside the #CCP. #China is unstable.”
There have been reports of flights being grounded in China, and even trains and buses going into the capital city of Beijing have been halted, Newsweek reported Saturday.
The internet rumors had China’s People’s Liberation Army potentially staging a coup against Xi, but there was also reports of a planned military exercise that led to the grounding of flights.
Reporting by Newsmax.
