Is Xi Out?

There are rumors that a military coup is taking place in China, with President Xi Jinping ousted and, in one account, under house arrest. At this point no one is sure what is going on, but this seems like a reasonable place to start:

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.
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“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.”

Things have not been going well for China lately. Stay tuned.

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