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Ask HN: What’s Going on in Beijing and to Xi Jinping?

I’m reading many articles and comments about an “improbable” coup that is happening in China, in Beijing. Somebody is saying that Xi is at home arrest. But also these news are arriving mostly from India media that are not the best reliable source. Also people are saying that some flights from/to Beijing are canceled and ‘Xi Jinping’ keyword is censured on Weibo. This is an example article on the situation: https://www.livemint.com/news/is-xi-jinping-under-house-arrest-there-s-a-military-coup-in-china-check-here-11664101272337.html And here a discussion on Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/China/comments/xmytl5/xi_jinping_house_arrest_and_coup_rumors_megathread/ Your opinion? Or any other more realistic sources/info?

88840-8855 4y ago
Just a nice example of how fast fake news is spreading across the globe. Should be punishable.
LinuxBender 4y ago
I've been trying to follow this as well but as you mention all the news is coming out of India and it is only on really obscure YouTube channels. I've not seen one iota of evidence of an actual coup or house arrest mentioned by any of the big news channels or corporate media.
mtmail 4y ago
The China correspondent of reputable German 'Der Spiegel' is trolling about it. https://twitter.com/schorselysees/status/1573949280234008576 https://twitter.com/schorselysees/status/1573949280234008576 His joke photos got then reshared as 'exclusive pictures' by another newspaper. https://twitter.com/zoo_bear/status/1574041553340837890 https://twitter.com/zoo_bear/status/1574041553340837890
- giuliomagnifico 4y ago
  Okay thanks. As I was expecting, nothing is happening there. Is incredible how Indian sources are building something about it. Just a clear example of how fake news are built and spread.
  - Nomentatus 4y ago
    Probably true. The rumors seem to have begun within the British (London) ex-Hong Kong community, being reported in an Indian video interview. It's not impossible the rumors reflected inside knowledge but we have no real reason to think so at this point. Epoch Times (religious rag) sometimes get good inside info early from their contacts (and spies?) but seem to have nothing on this. https://www.theepochtimes.com./xis-absence-from-public-eye-ahead-of-third-term-bid-sets-rumors-flying_4752887.html https://www.theepochtimes.com./xis-absence-from-public-eye-a...
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - prox 4y ago
    Lots of hoaxes are often posted to small outlets in the hope it will be picked up by bigger outlets. On Youtube checkout https://youtu.be/tR_6dibpDfo https://youtu.be/tR_6dibpDfo , a look into how hoaxes are started from the 80s onwards.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago
  I'm wondering if he's going to get in trouble because someone in China either doesn't understand or doesn't like this sort of humor (or just the consequences that arose from dumb people misinterpreting it).
batzy 4y ago
they are moving troops to national day ceremony on 1st of October, and Xi is under quarantine. Indians are building a conspiracy around it, I guess.
- giuliomagnifico 4y ago
  Since Xi is just came back from the meeting in Samarcanda, this is the most plausible thing. But I was asking because of the thread on Reddit makes me suspicious. Also about the canceled flights from/to Beijing.
  - batzy 4y ago
    Yea. Maybe somethings happening. But hard to believe that Xi's in house arrest. Worst case scenario They are trying to find the people with opinions and arrest/silence them by spreading disinformation about a coup.
Nomentatus 4y ago
There is a typhoon hitting South China, and flights are cancelled re both that and COVID, which is getting out of control in China, unfortunately. It is interesting that Xi hasn't shown since the rumors started, and that he left SOC early (skipping the meal for COVID reasons, apparently) but that's awfully weak evidence of anything. China is a remarkably opaque society at that high level. "Typhoon Noru rapidly intensified to a super typhoon in the early hours of Sunday, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 185 kilometers per hour (kph), and is moving westward toward the east coast of Aurora Province or the northern portion of Quezon Province, where it is likely to make landfall on Sunday afternoon, the Philippines' weather bureau said on Saturday." https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-09-25/Super-Typhoon-Noru-expected-to-affect-China-s-coastal-areas-1dBOR1v5h7y/index.html https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-09-25/Super-Typhoon-Noru-exp...
- giuliomagnifico 4y ago
  Oh I didn’t know about the typhoon. Maybe the culprit of this fake news is/are also the same China State because of its censorship on everything.
r721 4y ago
>Since last night I analyzed close to 2000+ accounts amplifying the hashtag #chinacoup. Despite this graph not being pretty enough given the large dataset, I figured out a bunch of accounts with significantly low followers that acted as the key disseminators of the rumor. https://twitter.com/atandra_ray/status/1573894063702810625 https://twitter.com/atandra_ray/status/1573894063702810625

88840-8855 4y ago

Just a nice example of how fast fake news is spreading across the globe. Should be punishable.

LinuxBender 4y ago

I've been trying to follow this as well but as you mention all the news is coming out of India and it is only on really obscure YouTube channels. I've not seen one iota of evidence of an actual coup or house arrest mentioned by any of the big news channels or corporate media.

mtmail 4y ago

The China correspondent of reputable German 'Der Spiegel' is trolling about it. https://twitter.com/schorselysees/status/1573949280234008576 https://twitter.com/schorselysees/status/1573949280234008576 His joke photos got then reshared as 'exclusive pictures' by another newspaper. https://twitter.com/zoo_bear/status/1574041553340837890 https://twitter.com/zoo_bear/status/1574041553340837890

giuliomagnifico 4y ago
Okay thanks. As I was expecting, nothing is happening there. Is incredible how Indian sources are building something about it. Just a clear example of how fake news are built and spread.
- Nomentatus 4y ago
  Probably true. The rumors seem to have begun within the British (London) ex-Hong Kong community, being reported in an Indian video interview. It's not impossible the rumors reflected inside knowledge but we have no real reason to think so at this point. Epoch Times (religious rag) sometimes get good inside info early from their contacts (and spies?) but seem to have nothing on this. https://www.theepochtimes.com./xis-absence-from-public-eye-ahead-of-third-term-bid-sets-rumors-flying_4752887.html https://www.theepochtimes.com./xis-absence-from-public-eye-a...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- prox 4y ago
  Lots of hoaxes are often posted to small outlets in the hope it will be picked up by bigger outlets. On Youtube checkout https://youtu.be/tR_6dibpDfo https://youtu.be/tR_6dibpDfo , a look into how hoaxes are started from the 80s onwards.
tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago
I'm wondering if he's going to get in trouble because someone in China either doesn't understand or doesn't like this sort of humor (or just the consequences that arose from dumb people misinterpreting it).

batzy 4y ago

they are moving troops to national day ceremony on 1st of October, and Xi is under quarantine. Indians are building a conspiracy around it, I guess.

giuliomagnifico 4y ago
Since Xi is just came back from the meeting in Samarcanda, this is the most plausible thing. But I was asking because of the thread on Reddit makes me suspicious. Also about the canceled flights from/to Beijing.
- batzy 4y ago
  Yea. Maybe somethings happening. But hard to believe that Xi's in house arrest. Worst case scenario They are trying to find the people with opinions and arrest/silence them by spreading disinformation about a coup.

Nomentatus 4y ago

There is a typhoon hitting South China, and flights are cancelled re both that and COVID, which is getting out of control in China, unfortunately. It is interesting that Xi hasn't shown since the rumors started, and that he left SOC early (skipping the meal for COVID reasons, apparently) but that's awfully weak evidence of anything. China is a remarkably opaque society at that high level. "Typhoon Noru rapidly intensified to a super typhoon in the early hours of Sunday, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 185 kilometers per hour (kph), and is moving westward toward the east coast of Aurora Province or the northern portion of Quezon Province, where it is likely to make landfall on Sunday afternoon, the Philippines' weather bureau said on Saturday." https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-09-25/Super-Typhoon-Noru-expected-to-affect-China-s-coastal-areas-1dBOR1v5h7y/index.html https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-09-25/Super-Typhoon-Noru-exp...

giuliomagnifico 4y ago
Oh I didn’t know about the typhoon. Maybe the culprit of this fake news is/are also the same China State because of its censorship on everything.

r721 4y ago

>Since last night I analyzed close to 2000+ accounts amplifying the hashtag #chinacoup. Despite this graph not being pretty enough given the large dataset, I figured out a bunch of accounts with significantly low followers that acted as the key disseminators of the rumor. https://twitter.com/atandra_ray/status/1573894063702810625 https://twitter.com/atandra_ray/status/1573894063702810625