In the last hours, Information about an alleged coup in China has been spread on Western social networks, as well as an alleged arrest of President Xi Jinping. On Twitter, the trend became relevant in several countries in America and Europe. The hashtag #ChinaCoup was positioned with related videos and tweets. (Iran: the protests over the death of a young man provoke unprecedented social mobilization)
The rumors were tried to justify with a video in which it is seen a row of military vehicles that would be advancing on a highway. Some assured that they are videos from last September 22 when they would be trying to reach Beijing, the Chinese capital. Nevertheless, it is not known with certainty when the content of less than a minute in length was originally recorded.
Between Thursday and Saturday, accounts replicated the information. Some even showed the image of an alleged explosion, but it was one that happened in 2015 in Tianjin.
Analyst Atandra Ray, from the artificial intelligence company Logically, identified more than 2,000 Twitter accounts that were spreading information on the subject. The conclusion: most users seem to have been created recently and do not have a high number of followers. However, there are some large accounts, or nodes, from India and Africa that were key in positioning the rumor.
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When you do a search with keywords about China, Beijing and coup d’état, the information is diffuse, and the content on the subject, which should be positioned, is hidden. In fact, the ones that manage to stand out were published more than 18 hours ago. However, some people have said that when they try to post content on the topic, they fail to post the tweets.
Canceled flights and Xi Jinping
One of the issues that also gained strength is related to the alleged mass cancellation of flights in Beijing.
For Wednesday, September 21, official figures showed that 60 percent of scheduled flights throughout the country were canceled for the following day: 16,000 were scheduled and 9,580 were cancelled.
Images of Chinese airspace were shared on social networks and some used them to spread rumors.
Despite the fact that there are no official pronouncements on the subject, analysts consulted by EL TIEMPO have assured that the reason would be due to two situations in particular: the first is due to the pandemic, since for several months flights have been suspended daily due to restrictions due to the covid-19. The second is related to the air space is restricted due to military exercises that have been carried out for a few days on the National DayOctober 1st, and the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CCP), on October 16.
It is noteworthy that an alleged arrest of President Xi Jinping has also been secured.
The last thing that is known is that two days ago, on Friday, September 23, the president sent a congratulatory letter to the China News Service for his 70th anniversary.. According to Xinhua, the state agency, the president was at the fifth harvest festival held on the same day and said that farmers should play an active role in accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.
Xi Jinping’s last public appearance, recorded with photographs, was in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) when he gave a speech during the recent meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This Sunday, the list of the 2,296 deputies for next month’s congress was known. The document reads the name of the Chinese Head of State, which could be understood as an implicit response to the rumors spread.
This wave of information came while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was giving his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York (United States) and was meeting with the organization’s Secretary General, António Guterres.
The call to the military
Last week, on September 21, the Xinhua agency published that President Xi Jinping gave instructions on China’s national defense and military reform. As reported, the president emphasized that the National Congress of the Communist Party of that country, the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission “have implemented the strategy of reforming and strengthen the armed forces and the institutional obstacles have been deciphered”.
Among the statements collected by the state agency is also that the Chinese president asks his country’s military to “focus on preparation” and “generalize and apply the successful experience of the reforms.”
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In that order of ideas, an article published by the official People’s Liberation Army newspaper, taken up by the South China Morning Post, ensures that the Chinese government emphasizes that “the military must do what the party asks them to do and refuse to do what the party does not allow”. And it is added: “The absolute leadership of the party over the Army is an unbreakable system.”
What’s happening in Beijing?
In the last five days, life in the Chinese capital has been normal. The fall equinox was last Friday and people are getting ready to celebrate the national day. The first week of October is a holiday, so millions of citizens are looking for what to do and how to get around during that time.
Until the time of writing this article, militarization is not seen, as has been assured. Police controls have increased in recent weeks, especially between the first and second rings of the city – where the political and administrative zones are – by Congress. In the embassy area, near Parque del Sol, the situation is normal.
If the alleged coup in China is true, it has gone unnoticed by most Chinese citizens. No alarms have been heard and mobility has not been restricted. The points for performing PCR tests are still active and supermarkets are operating normally. The metro also works and traffic is normal. In Chinese social networks, such as Weibo, the issue has not transpired and when several are asked about it, they claim not to know more information about it.
The truth is the eyes of the world and China are focused on what may happen in the coming weeks, well Xi Jinping could achieve a free pass to be able to secure a third term.
DAVID ALEJANDRO LOPEZ BERMUDEZ
Special envoy of EL TIEMPO
Beijing (China)
In networks: @lopez03david
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