China Tweets #10
Rumours circulated online about a coup in China
#PLA military vehicles heading to #Beijing on Sep 22. Starting from Huanlai County near Beijing & ending in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, entire procession as long as 80 KM. Meanwhile, rumor has it that #XiJinping was under arrest after #CCP seniors removed him as head of PLA pic.twitter.com/hODcknQMhE
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferzeng97) September 23, 2022
Based on what I'm hearing from informed China sources, the rumors that are circulating about Xi are mostly coming from Falun Gong sources. Scholars are reluctant to dismiss them entirely, but also reluctant to credit them without more independent confirmation - so far lacking.
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) September 24, 2022
Poor reporting aided and abetted such rumours:
promoting these people was always a mistake, for they are panic-mongering know-nothings pic.twitter.com/rWdcdtucUT
— Ben Miller (@benwritesthings) September 25, 2022
Don't believe rumours during silly season: AKA in the run up to the party congress.
Rule number one of Chinese politics watching: don’t believe (basically routine) rumors of palace coups in the lead up to a Party Congress unless the evidence is truly overwhelming. Rule number two: don’t believe rumors of coups that can only be traced to overseas Chinese media.
— Taisu Zhang (@ZhangTaisu) September 24, 2022
Got this shot out of the great firewall from my dear friend in Chongqing, Some real shit going down in Beijing.#chinacoup #OSINT #XiJinping pic.twitter.com/qPapqGpyjA
— Juul Pod Psyops (@Lynnbee01) September 24, 2022
People began to have fun with the ludicrous rumours...
Today in Beijing, I investigated the #chinacoup so you don’t have to. At considerable personal risk, I ventured out to some neuralgic key points in the city. Disturbing finds. Brace yourselves. /1 pic.twitter.com/z4CJYpQbbk
— Georg Fahrion (@schorselysees) September 25, 2022
Without realising it was satire a news outlet picked it up:
A sarcastic thread by @schorselysees on #ChinaCoup was picked up by 'India's most viewed English/Hindi News Channel' @republic @Republic_Bharat, The pics shared in the twitter thread were shown by the channel as 'Exclusive Pics'. That's the state of most TV News channels in India pic.twitter.com/06GFuZmSJ6
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 25, 2022
It's as likely that a coup has taken place against Biden...
US military vehicles heading to Washington DC from Fort Myer, Virginia. Rumor has it that Joe Biden has been put under house arrest and General Mark Milley has taken control of the country pic.twitter.com/EPO3Z5euxL
— Michael Parenti’s Stache 🚩☭ (@Karl_Was_Right) September 24, 2022
Brief Interlude
80s China cigarette marriage pics send me. pic.twitter.com/vLL5MSuPDp
— my wheelhouse (@mywheelhouseftw) September 24, 2022
20th Party Congress
Check out @abcnews 20th Congress coverage, no. 1: how the life story of Li Keqiang tells about the Party, who’s likely to be in China’s next leader group (spoiler: a male engineer), and great insights from @vshih2 & @neilthomas123: https://t.co/6eI5GTlUUD
— Wing Kuang (@wing_kuang) September 24, 2022
With only weeks away from the 20th Party Congress, the Chinese Communist Party announced they have "elected" 2296 representatives to attend the significant party gathering that only happens once every five years. They emphasized the list of delegates is elected ...
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) September 25, 2022
this announcement today that all the delegates to the upcoming 20th party congress have been selected opens with the line “Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core” https://t.co/6h6t8FUUgA
— Bill Bishop (@niubi) September 25, 2022
As a sociologist studying elite politics in China, I am offering ten observations about the upcoming CCP Party Congress in October. I hope there is something that you are looking for. My prediction is pretty dark; however, you may find hopes if you read through this thread.
— Yang Zhang (@yangzhang1982) September 25, 2022
Hong Kong
A law banning offenses against the British monarchy—used by the colonial gov't against the pro-Communist Party press—has now been used by the pro-Communist Party gov't to arrest a man paying tribute to the British monarchy.
— Ryan Ho Kilpatrick 何松濤 (@rhokilpatrick) September 20, 2022
The wheel keeps spinning, crushing those on the ground. https://t.co/9GoWlFLI9Q
Queen Elizabeth II was no friend to HK's democratic struggle:
"If there should be any beacon for Hongkongers to look to in British society, it should not be the monarchy, but the generations of activists in Britain pushing for democratic rights... just as Hongkongers have done"
— Xun-ling Au 歐迅灵 🏴 (@XunlingAu) September 24, 2022
Great piece by @promiseli_ in @lausanhk https://t.co/pfpBJgcbNF
Impact of China's zero-Covid policy
1/27 dead in a bus crash carrying people to quarantine in Guizhou - a horrific tragedy.
— Dake Kang (@dakekang) September 19, 2022
Lots of anger online.
It also comes at a particularly sensitive time. The 20th Party Congress is coming up...https://t.co/o3lgeSIeT5
Imagine Deng Xiaoping's reaction when he's seeing this is what his hometown is building. https://t.co/v9E7E1zhup
— Dali L. Yang (@Dali_Yang) September 19, 2022
Re: huge number of Chinese flights getting cancelled, it’s the norm in zero covid China. Below is graph of actual flights flown in China red is 2022 gray 2021 blue 2019.
— Rui Ma 马睿 (@ruima) September 25, 2022
1H 2022 flights were down 54% vs 2019, -17% vs 2020, -43% vs 2021. April was worst, -79% vs 2019 bc of covid pic.twitter.com/cmCB05U2Cx
"Residents were barred from leaving their homes for 119 days in total."
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) September 23, 2022
Welcome to Ruili, the city that has arguably borne the brunt of China's Covid Zero policy more than any other place in the country. Bloomberg's John Liu reports https://t.co/1iC0MEMMQb pic.twitter.com/ka8DkQM03w
"Choose your character!"
— Eric Liu 刘力朋✌️🇺🇦 (@EricLiu_USA) September 20, 2022
Taiwan
A lively scene in Taiwan Strait on 20 Sept. USS Higgins and HMCS Vancouver followed by several Chinese warships while sailing near the median line. pic.twitter.com/T3w689yvtJ
— Duan Dang (@duandang) September 21, 2022
NEW FEATURE: China’s approach to Taiwan is a hotly debated issue. @ChinaPowerCSIS polled 64 top experts to shed light on China's strategy, timelines, and willingness to use force against Taiwan.
— ChinaPower (@ChinaPowerCSIS) September 20, 2022
See key findings below and explore full results here: https://t.co/QH1okWgBR5
Watch Prime Minister Terrance Drew reaffirm #StKittsAndNevis’🇰🇳 unswerving support for #Taiwan’s🇹🇼 meaningful participation in the @UN🇺🇳 system. We thank him for emphasizing our decades-long commitment to #SDGs, & our ability to make greater contributions if treated equally! pic.twitter.com/kzRRlvLNoB
— 外交部 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MOFA_Taiwan) September 24, 2022
Xinjiang
New:
— Finbarr Bermingham (@fbermingham) September 20, 2022
In August, as EU policymakers were putting together a forced labour ban, EU imports from Xinjiang soared 136% from a year earlier
Story: https://t.co/ICvyWS6LKR
Our project turns 4 years old today. Though no reason to celebrate, it may be helpful to review what's been done over the past 4 yrs:
— Xinjiang Victims Database (@shahitbiz) September 22, 2022
In terms of victims documented, we've been picking up the pace, thanks to leaked/hacked gvt records, to likely continue for the next year. (1/9) pic.twitter.com/Njjd93rEdM
The Guardian's @heldavidson: #China ready for ‘fight’ over international action on #Xinjiang #humanrights abuses
— Patricia M Thornton (@PM_Thornton) September 24, 2022
Threat comes as #UN member states meet in Geneva amid pressure to take action on a damning report on abuse of #Uyghurs https://t.co/PjFku603lj