China coup

A clip of a nighttime explosion at a warehouse in a built-up area was not captured recently, despite users sharing the footage online in September 2022. Instead, the footage was filmed in Tianjin, China in 2015 and was widely covered by media at the time. Users recently shared the footage of the explosion alongside false claims that it showed proof of a military coup in China. The Guardian called rumors of a coup in China “unfounded” in an article published on September 26 ( Examples of the clip erroneously shared in recent days and described as evidence of the supposed coup can be found ( The clip is not recent, however, and a reverse image search reveals that the footage and similar clips have been online since 2015 ( Footage of the incident was published widely by media outlets in August 2015 including by The Guardian and the BBC ( In August 2015, Reuters reported that two explosions tore through an industrial complex where toxic chemicals and gas were stored in the Chinese city of Tianjin, killing at least 50 people and injuring dozens of fire fighters, per statements made by officials and state media (

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince threatened the U.S. if it retaliated against oil cuts © Provided by Hindustan Times Xi Jinping: Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand on September 16. (AP) Social media has been abuzz with rumours of a coup in China claiming that the country's president Xi Jinping has been deposed. Speculations began on the internet after Jinping was said to be missing from the public eye following his return from the No officials from China's ruling Communist Party or the state media have said anything on the rumours. Their social media accounts show Here's what we know so far on claims of a coup in China: Is Xi Jinping under house arrest? After Are international and domestic commercial flights in China being cancelled? Reports of fewer passenger flights in and out of Beijing were also shared across social media in addition to claims that all trains and buses have been cancelled. Beijing Capital International Airport's website, however, showed that some flights were cancelled, several others were scheduled, slightly delayed, or had already landed. Nevertheless, China's flight traffic has not returned to pre-pandemic level which could be a reason for the data showing less number of flights out of Beijing. What has been happening in China for the past one week? (With agency inputs) Sign on to read the HT ePaper

washington — Premier Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, both of whom were unceremoniously dropped from the top leadership at last week's Chinese Communist Party Congress, have something else in common. The two were cast as key figures in a fictionalized plot to overthrow Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a book by Roger Garside, a former British diplomat posted to Beijing. Garside describes the book, China Coup: The Great Leap to Freedom, as one-quarter fiction, three-quarters analysis. In it, Li and Wang, a former vice premier, were portrayed as reform-minded figures who sought to save China from what they saw as Xi's misguided policies. SEE ALSO: British Analyst Envisions Overthrow of China’s Xi Jinping The two men's exit was not the outcome imagined for them in the book, but Garside told VOA in an interview this week that their ouster showed he was right to identify them as posing the most significant threat to Xi's consolidation of power in his own hands. While the internal party machinations may have strengthened Xi, Garside does not believe they strengthened China. "Is China now more likely to prevail in what [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden calls the 'contest for the future of our world'? My answer is emphatically no," he said. Garside, who is now an associate fellow at the London-based Henry Jackson Society, predicted that for Xi, the cost of the moves in the congress would ultimately outweigh the benefits because the greatest threats to the nation's future are not inside the ruling...

China's President Xi Jinping waves during the introduction of members of the Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee, the nation's top decision-making body, in Beijing on Sunday. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images BEIJING — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has emerged from a twice-a-decade Communist Party congress stronger than ever after securing a third term as party boss and pushing all but his most loyal of allies out of the picture. On Sunday, Xi smiled as he led the newly selected group of men at the pinnacle of power in China – the Politburo Standing Committee – onto a stage before the media. Xi has long been expected to cling to power, but the congress cemented his dominance with breathtaking clarity. Xi Jinping is surrounded by allies, a mark of his power All of the six other men on the Politburo Standing Committee are considered close associates of Xi. They've worked with him in different parts of the bureaucracy and proved their loyalty. Analysts say the lopsided lineup upsets a long-standing practice of balancing factions within the Communist Party's policymaking elite – and highlights Xi's sheer political muscle. Four members of the previous Standing Committee retired to make way for new blood. Two had reached or passed the traditional retirement age of 68. But two had not – and Premier Li Keqiang, who was No. 2 in the party hierarchy, and Vice Premier Wang Yang were pushed out. Both are 67 years old and would have been eligible to stay on based on pri...

As per the data on flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the air traffic over the Chinese Airspace has normalize following reports of empty sky over China. As per multiple reports, China started mass cancellations of flights for unknown reasons. The data was validated by the flight tracking websites, as only limited flights were flying over China. Later, reports suggested that there was a coup staged in China and Chinese President Xi Jinping was placed under a house alert. However, China later refuted the claims of any coup in the country. On September21, based on the report on The Epoch Times, Flight Master stated that 9,583 flights were cancelled nationwide, almost60 percent of the total scheduled flights on the day. It is to be noted that Flight Master serves as a source of information on flight, ticketing, and travel services in the country. Moreover, the reportssaid that some of the air transport hubs in China had a cancellation report of over 50 percent. The reports of The Epoch Times saidBeijing Capital International Airport cancelled 622 flights, resulting in a 60% cancellation rate. In addition, 652 flights were cancelled at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, with a 54 percent cancellation rate. Similarly, 542 flights at Shenzhen Baoan Airport were cancelled, accounting for 51% of total flights. Three of the Chinese airports, namely Guiyang Longdongbao, Lhasa Gongga, and Chengdu Tianfu, had a high cancellation rate in Western provinces. Guiyang Longdongbao ha...

Social media is abuzz with claims of a coup in China, but the credibility of these claims is doubtful, claim experts. Speculations that Chinese President Xi Jinping had lost control ran wild on the internet after he was found missing from the public eye following his return from SCO summit in Uzbekistan. With no official confirmation from the Chinese Communist Party or the state media and with all these updates from anonymous users, who are neither verified nor credible, experts are confident these rumours are just rumours and false speculations. The last time the Chinese President was seen publicly was at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand. The summit was also attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. There's a strong possibility the Chinese premier could be in quarantine following the country's strict 'Zero Covid Policy’. Under the policy, every individual who enters China from abroad must undergo quarantine. Xi is most likely in quarantine after coming back from SCO. There is no coup. Looks like a lot of alt-media in India picked up the rumour. — Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) Are international and domestic commercial flights in China being cancelled? There are also unverified reports that very few passenger flights are flying over the Chinese capital and all trains and buses have been cancelled in the last few days. Beijing Capital International Airport's website shows that some flight...