“Chinese are making documentaries about ultra-extreme poverty and decaying cities since they don’t exist in China anymore,” X user S.L. Kanthan wrote in a recent post, accompanied by a short clip from the documentary highlighting the implosion of Oakland, California.

Chinese are making documentaries about ultra-extreme poverty and decaying cities, since they don’t exist in #China anymore.

And the prime location for these films? Greatest country on earth, USA ! Welcome to Oakland, California: pic.twitter.com/DlITruvvkr

— S.L. Kanthan (@Kanthan2030) July 17, 2024

Since the video was narrated in Chinese, X user TranslateMom translated some of the captions, which said, “Everywhere is garbage … People don’t live in places. There are wanderers everywhere.”

TranslateMom has subtitled your video in English!

For instant translations and captions, visit our web app at https://t.co/vgpywdvEdE.

Tool created by @montakaoh. pic.twitter.com/9neE57xlIa

— TranslateMom (@TranslateMom) July 17, 2024

Remember late last year when leftist California Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted he cleaned up several city blocks ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to town?

Newsom admits he only cleaned up San Francisco because Xi came to visit. “That’s true. Because it’s true.” pic.twitter.com/vKgz1BQl4A

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 13, 2023

The problem with Oakland is long-term de-industrial trends, compounded with medium-term failed progressive policies that have only led to crime, chaos, homelessness, and rampant decay of households amid the worst drug overdose crisis ever.

In April, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party uncovered that China is actively subsidizing the sale of fentanyl chemicals to Mexico. Drug cartels in Mexico then cook these chemicals, and the finished product is then flooded into the US via open southern borders. Some have referred to this crisis as the ‘Reverse Opium War.’

Sigh.

Here’s what X users are saying about the Chinese mocking US cities:

XI went to visit with Newsom.

He is well aware how California is now a socialist paradise and being run into the ground on purpose.

— floridanow1 (@floridanow1) July 21, 2024

China is responsible for the drug crisis in the USA. At least partially.

They could stop sending the drug overseas, if they decided to.

We are paying our debt for the opium wars a hundred years ago.

Maybe the debt has been already paid?

What do you think?

— Truth Warrior (@TruthWarrior5X) July 21, 2024

Her hometown… pic.twitter.com/Zv5kVrDoH3

— Keith Oehlerking (@0ehlerking) July 21, 2024

The good news is that re-shoring efforts are ramping up, which were kicked off by Trump in his first term and continued with Biden in his first term. However, law and order are lacking in many cities because radical leftists in city halls lack the skills to manage effectively, focusing instead on pushing progressive policies that ultimately doom the area.

As November approaches, Americans are seeking a president who prioritizes their interests over those of illegal aliens and Ukraine. They desire law and order, economic stability (not ones that spike inflation through out-of-control fiscal spending), and a return to the America they knew before Biden took office.

Xi met with former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss cross-strait relations; China has not hosted a serving leader from Taiwan except for Ma since the island declared independence in 1949, according to SCMP. Xi relayed Beijing’s long-standing message that China will “reunify” with Taiwan, which Ma said should be done through peaceful means.

China views Taiwan as a rogue territory that needs to reconcile with the mainland, and insists that other countries view the island similarly. Beijing has publicly declared that it hopes to bring Taiwan back peacefully, though it has not rejected the possibility of forceful reunification through invasion, a possibility that Western nations fear could spur a global war.

“Compatriots on the two sides are both Chinese,” Xi told Ma, according to SCMP. “There is no grudge that cannot be resolved. No problem that cannot be talked through. And there are no forces that can separate us.”

“Foreign interference,” Xi said, will not stop China from its “family reunion” with Taiwan.

Ma met with Xi at a “very favorable” time, as it allowed both parties to “calmly and rationally convey accurate public opinions,” Taiwan affairs expert at Beijing Union University Zhu Songling told SCMP. Ma visited with Xi during his tenure as president in 2015.

“I sincerely hope that both sides can respect the values and ways of life of their peoples,” Ma told Xi, according to SCMP. “Recent tensions between the two sides … have triggered a sense of insecurity among the public in Taiwan.”

“If there’s war, it would be unbearable to the Chinese nation, and the two sides of the [Taiwan] strait have the wisdom to handle their disputes peacefully,” Ma said.

Beijing has a better relationship with Ma’s party than it does with the current reigning party in Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which opposes reunification with China. Lai Ching-te, a member of the DPP, won presidential elections in January.

The U.S. has positioned additional naval forces in the Taiwan region in recent weeks amid concerns about China’s hostilities toward the island. China conducts increasingly aggressive maritime and air drills in the Taiwan Strait region, likely in a bid to pressure the island into reunifying with the mainland peacefully.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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“Up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today, 30 PLA aircraft and 9 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were identified. 20 of the aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, middle line, and southwest ADIZ,” the Taiwanese MND announced on social media. The Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF) have been monitoring the situation and responding appropriately.

It’s worth noting that the official name of Taiwan is the Republic of China, in contrast to its mainland counterpart, the People’s Republic of China.

This show of force by the Chinese military comes after a phone conversation between the leaders of the People’s Republic of China and the United States. President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had their first phone call since July 2022 on Tuesday, with the two leaders expected to discuss topics such as Taiwan, narcotics, artificial intelligence, and China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict.

While the White House has yet to provide specific details about the call, it described the conversation as a “check-in” between the two leaders. The last time Biden and Xi spoke publicly was in November, following Biden’s use of the term “dictator” to describe Xi in June last year, after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy craft on the East Coast. Biden reiterated this description of Xi in November last year as tensions over Taiwan escalated.

President Biden has previously stated that the U.S. would intervene if China were to invade Taiwan, but the White House has subsequently walked back these statements.

Article generated from corporate media reports.

Normally the Chinese keep their cards very close to the vest, and so this was a very unusual move.  My guess is that the Chinese wanted to see how Biden would respond to such a direct statement.  Xi Jinping expressed his desire to take over Taiwan peacefully if possible, but we all know that isn’t going to happen.

So war is coming, and the only thing that needs to be decided now is the timing…

Chinese President Xi Jinping bluntly told President Joe Biden during their recent summit in San Francisco that Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China but that the timing has not yet been decided, according to three current and former U.S. officials.

Xi told Biden in a group meeting attended by a dozen American and Chinese officials that China’s preference is to take Taiwan peacefully, not by force, the officials said.

The Chinese leader also referenced public predictions by U.S. military leaders who say that Xi plans to take Taiwan in 2025 or 2027, telling Biden that they were wrong because he has not set a time frame, according to the two current and one former official briefed on the meeting.

I kind of expected the White House to deny that this exchange took place, but that did not happen…

The White House didn’t deny the exchange, which occurred during a Nov. 15 summit outside San Francisco that was attended by a dozen US and Chinese officials.

“I’m not gonna get into the specifics of the discussion between the two leaders,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One en route to Milwaukee.

Wow.

So why isn’t everyone in America talking about this?

Why has this almost entirely disappeared from the news cycle already? This is one of the biggest stories of the year. War with China is coming, and the Chinese have been feverishly preparing for it.

For example, the Chinese just imposed export controls on rare earth processing technology…

Following the meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event in San Francisco last month, the hopes for de-escalation in Sino-US relations seem to have fallen apart after China announced export controls on rare-earths technologies.

China is the world’s top processor of rare earths and has placed an export ban on technology to extract and separate rare-earth metals, according to Bloomberg, citing a document from the Ministry of Commerce.

The move comes as Washington and its allies try to reduce reliance on China’s stranglehold of the global rare earths market. There are 17 rare earth metals, and Beijing controls about 85% of the global refining capacity. These metals are found in everything from electric vehicles to wind turbines to military hardware.

Expect to see more dramatic economic moves by the Chinese in the months ahead.

China has also been working on a whole host of new weapons systems.

Reportedly, this also includes weapons that employ “advanced brain warfare technology”…

China is working on advanced brain warfare technology which is said to include devices that can send enemies to sleep and control their thoughts, according to an uncovered report.

Researchers have found two recent studies by China’s People’s Liberation Army that show the military is increasing its ‘hard power’ weapons with new technology to win wars without conventional weapons.

The biological weapons are designed to induce sleep, impair cognition and alertness as well as impact decision making, The Washington Times reports.

In addition, Chinese hackers have been feverishly hacking into “critical U.S. infrastructure” in anticipation of the coming conflict…

President Joe Biden’s administration warned that Chinese hackers have been positioning themselves inside critical U.S. infrastructure to cause “societal chaos” from within should war break out.

According to reports, the Communist Party of China’s military has burrowed into more than 20 major utilities suppliers in the last year including a water utility in Hawaii, a major West Coast port and at least one oil and gas pipeline. They reportedly also bypassed elaborate cyber security systems by intercepting passwords and log-ins unguarded by junior employees.

This project they are conducting amid growing tension over Taiwan was codenamed Volt Typhoon. Analysts commented this could unplug U.S. efforts to protect its interests in the South China Sea. “It is very clear that Chinese attempts to compromise critical infrastructure are in part to pre-position themselves to be able to disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict,” said Brandon Wales of the Department of Homeland Security‘s (DHS’) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Meanwhile, it appears that the war in the Middle East could soon go to the next level.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the “buffer zone has moved south of the border, and the IDF faces daily mortar attacks from Hezbollah.”

And Newsweek is telling us that “Israel has edged closer to an all-out war with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement”…

Israel has edged closer to an all-out war with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement amid a worsening round of hostilities playing out as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is already engaged in its most intensive conflict to date in the Gaza Strip, an IDF official has said.

IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told reporters Monday that Hezbollah has fired “more than 1,000 different types of ammunition, rockets, missiles, drones, mortars and others toward Israel” since October 8, the day after the Palestinian Hamas movement led an unprecedented surprise attack against Israel from Gaza.

Conricus warned that “Hezbollah, who as everybody knows is a proxy of Iran, is dangerously dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war that could have potential devastating consequences for the state of Lebanon and for the people of Lebanon.

Even though I have not been writing about the war in the Middle East much recently, it is just a matter of time before it absolutely explodes.

The Israeli government has decided to push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River, and Hezbollah will not ever allow that to happen willingly…

Israel is planning to invade Lebanon to push Hezbollah back from its northern border, according to reports, amid a barrage of rocket attacks since the war in Gaza broke out and fears that the terror group is ‘worse than Hamas’.

After weeks of exchanging cross-border fire, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are said to be keen to launch a ground offensive into southern Lebanon which would aim to push the terror group north past the Litani River.

Elsewhere, the Russians are attacking on “six fronts” in Ukraine, and Kim Jong Un just threatened the United States with nuclear war…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned Pyongyang will not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack on the US if ‘provoked with nukes’, state media said Thursday.

Kim’s warning follows a meeting between South Korea and the United States last week in Washington, where they discussed nuclear deterrence in the event of conflict with the North.

Without a doubt, we are living at a time of wars and rumors of wars, and I fully expect 2024 to be a year of war.

So I would encourage all of you to get prepared for the chaos that is ahead, because global events will soon spiral completely out of control.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Long before Biden patted the communist dictator on the back Nov. 15 and ushered him into suburban San Francisco’s Filoli Estate, his administration’s commitment to “zombie engagement” with China ensured a victory for Xi and the CCP.

Biden’s opening remarks stuck to the same script his Cabinet officials have used for months on their visits to China. He told Xi he wants to avoid “miscommunication” and “manage [competition] responsibly” so that it does not “veer into conflict.”

However, tensions between the United States and China aren’t the result of inadequate communication or poor management by the Trump administration. They are the product of deliberate, malign behavior by Xi and the CCP.

Washington has a bad habit of treating the CCP like a passive entity with no agency of its own: If the party is acting recklessly, the thinking goes, it must be a failure of U.S. diplomacy. Similarly, the Biden administration views wooing the CCP diplomatically as “responsible,” while confronting national security threats from China is deemed “irresponsible,” as it risks angering Beijing.

This approach is a recipe for disaster.

In just the past few months, well after Biden began sending Cabinet officials to bow in Beijing, the CCP continued to step up its aggression toward Taiwan, deliberately caused near-collisions with U.S. military craft, caused an actual collision with a Philippine navy ship conducting a resupply mission, and used sonar to injure Australian sailors trying to fix a propellor in international waters.

These aren’t accidents or miscommunications, but deliberate acts of aggression to advance CCP goals and pressure a risk-averse administration.

After the CCP sent a spy balloon over the continental United States earlier this year, the administration “held back human rights-related sanctions, export controls and other sensitive actions to try to limit damage to the U.S.-China relationship.”

Months later, the administration bafflingly sent officials on a diplomatic visit to Beijing on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

It’s now clear that months of concessions to Beijing and the humiliation of America’s top national security officials supplicating to Xi have been a net negative for American national security.

The administration argues that it also took important national security actions toward China earlier in Biden’s term, including an executive order to monitor and restrict investments in China, and the expansion of export restrictions on semiconductors. But this was hardly a profile in courage, as the administration significantly delayed the former and refused to do the latter until the measures were discussed with Beijing.

Even more concerningly, the Biden administration has restarted several recurring dialogues with the CCP without registering any tangible wins or concessions.

The CCP uses these bureaucratic boondoggles to delay and deter the U.S. from taking national security actions, such as sanctions. The CCP is also fond of terminating these dialogues as a means to punish U.S. officials, and did so in August 2022, when it cut off virtually all diplomatic cooperation to protest a visit to Taiwan by then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The Biden administration seems intent on handing the lash back to the CCP—practically asking for more punishment.

It gets worse.

The Biden administration lifted human rights sanctions on an organization accused of involvement in the CCP’s genocide against Uyghurs in return for a CCP pledge to resume bilateral cooperation on fentanyl. (For context, more than 70,000 Americans are dying of fentanyl overdoses per year, and the vast majority of the ingredients to make fentanyl are coming from China.)

While the media are describing this quid pro quo as a “fentanyl deal,” a “deal” implies concessions from both sides. But whereas the U.S. has actually lifted sanctions on the Chinese Institute of Forensic Science, the CCP has offered little more than hollow pledges on fentanyl, issuing a “warning” to drug manufacturers.

Recall that Beijing made similar pledges to the Trump administration to crack down on fentanyl exports, after which the U.S. fentanyl epidemic only worsened.

The White House has also played up “the resumption of high-level military-to-military communication” as a summit victory. Like fentanyl enforcement, this would be helpful—if the CCP actually follows through.  But for decades, Beijing has refused to use these channels to actually deescalate tensions.

The “resumption” of nonfunctioning communication isn’t a victory. Xi needs to prove his commanders will actually answer the phone and be empowered to resolve crises.

As a result, any such agreement with Xi must be presumed worthless until proven otherwise.

He has consistently lied to the U.S. and world about his military and economic ambitions. Biden should know this, as he was in the White House in 2015 when Xi falsely promised in the Rose Garden not to militarize the South China Sea and to stop China’s cyberespionage activities.

Almost a decade later, it strains credulity to take Xi at his word and to advertise handshake deals  with the Chinese leader as “progress.”

Biden might have hoped the meeting would be good reelection politics, but it turned out to be a giveaway to Xi.  Biden left suburban San Francisco with Xi’s promises. In return, Xi got a year of reduced pressure, new nonmilitary dialogues, sanctions lifted, advance warning of U.S. actions, and reduced U.S. Navy presence around Taiwan—not to mention the $40,000-per-plate private-sector dinner Xi used to propagandize to the willing ears of the pro-China lobby.

Facing economic challenges at home and a U.S. Congress increasingly focused on checking his malign ambitions, Xi might finally be on the back foot. This wasn’t the time to throw him a lifeline for free, but to keep up the pressure until the CCP meaningfully changes its behavior.

On that count, the summit failed resoundingly. Until the Biden administration recognizes this reality, it will be up to Congress and the states to confront the CCP.

Xi Jinping understands this very well, and so if an invasion of Taiwan is going to happen it must take place at a moment that is favorable to the Chinese.  Many would argue that we will be in such a window of opportunity for about the next year and a half.  Right now, the U.S. and other western nations are pouring vast amounts of military resources into the conflict in Ukraine.  As a result, they are ill-prepared to militarily confront a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.  In addition, Xi Jinping knows that Joe Biden would not use nuclear weapons if the Chinese move against Taiwan.  It would be a conventional war, and such a scenario would greatly favor China.  But if the Chinese wait until after the next presidential election in the United States, Donald Trump or another Republican could be in the White House, and the risk of sparking a nuclear conflict would go up substantially.

So if Xi Jinping wants to make a move, the clock is ticking.

And over the past few weeks, he has made statements that certainly suggest that he intends to get China prepared for a coming war with the United States.  The following comes from the Wall Street Journal…

At a top-level meeting focused on national security on May 30, the Chinese leader said, “We must be prepared for worst-case and extreme scenarios, and be ready to withstand the major test of high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms.”

A week later, Xi extended that concept to the economic arena. While inspecting an industrial park in Inner Mongolia, Xi said efforts to build up the domestic market are aimed at “ensuring normal operation of the national economy under extreme circumstances.”

The foreign policy experts that the Journal interviewed for their story clearly understood that Xi was referring to war.

And the only reason the Chinese would be fighting a major war any time soon is if they launch an invasion of Taiwan.

Over the past week, China has continued to send large numbers of military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone…

Taiwan’s air force scrambled into action on Sunday after spotting 10 Chinese warplanes crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, as the island’s defence ministry said four Chinese warships also carried out combat patrols.

This is the second time in less than a week that Taiwan has reported renewed Chinese military activity, after 37 Chinese military aircraft on Thursday flew into the island’s air defence zone, some of which then flew into the western Pacific.

They are probing Taiwan’s defenses.

The are looking for weak spots and they are testing to see how the Taiwanese would respond to certain scenarios.

But every time the Chinese send planes and ships toward Taiwan, it will only make tensions in the region even worse.

Of course the U.S. has certainly not helped matters by sending more troops to the island…

In February, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said American and Taiwan military forces will cooperate “even more closely” and plan to “bolster military exchanges.”

At the time, CNN reported that between 20 and 40 American Marines were routinely based on the island, largely for security operations around America’s unofficial diplomatic outpost.

In April, the Taiwan News reported that America had increased its presence to about 200 troops, according to The Defense Post.

We are repeating the same pattern that we witnessed just before the Russians invaded Ukraine.

The Biden administration just keeps taking steps to aggravate China, and the Chinese just keep taking steps to aggravate the Biden administration.

If we aren’t very careful, at some point the Chinese will be pushed over the edge.

Are we almost there now?

A major British news source is telling us that the Biden administration has actually been developing plans for “the evacuation of Americans living in Taiwan”…

The US government is reported to be currently organising the evacuation of Americans living in Taiwan. According to themessanger.com, a senior US intelligence person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to disclose the strategy, reported this evacuation planning has been ongoing for at least six months and has significantly increased over the last few months.

If an evacuation happens, that will be a very clear sign that war is imminent.

So let us hope that an evacuation does not happen any time soon.

If a war with China does erupt, many Americans will assume that the U.S. will win.

But the truth is that literally dozens of war games that our leaders have conducted in recent years have all shown that we would lose such a conflict, and that includes a war game that was just held in April…

The war began in the early morning hours with a massive bombardment — China’s version of “shock and awe.” Chinese planes and rockets swiftly destroyed most of Taiwan’s navy and air force as the People’s Liberation army and navy mounted a massive amphibious assault across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait. Having taken seriously President Joe Biden’s pledge to defend the island, Beijing also struck pre-emptively at U.S. and allied air bases and ships in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. managed to even the odds for a time by deploying more sophisticated submarines as well as B-21 and B-2 stealth bombers to get inside China’s air defense zones, but Washington ran out of key munitions in a matter of days and saw its network access severed. The United States and its main ally, Japan, lost thousands of servicemembers, dozens of ships, and hundreds of aircraft. Taiwan’s economy was devastated. And as a protracted siege ensued, the U.S. was much slower to rebuild, taking years to replace ships as it reckoned with how shriveled its industrial base had become compared to China’s.

The Chinese “just ran rings around us,” said former Joint Chiefs Vice Chair Gen. John Hyten in one after-action report. “They knew exactly what we were going to do before we did it.”

Once China invades Taiwan, we will be at war with the Chinese.

As long as the war doesn’t go nuclear, the Chinese know that they would have the advantage.

And our leaders know that the Chinese would have the advantage.

But Joe Biden is not going to start lobbing nukes at the Chinese mainland in order to keep them out of Taiwan.

That just isn’t going to happen. So there is a window of opportunity for Chinese President Xi Jinping to do something that he desperately wants to do.

Until the next presidential election in the United States he has a chance to grab Taiwan, but for all of our sakes let us hope that he chooses not to go that route.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Article cross-posted from End of the American Dream.

Editor’s Commentary: We covered this story yesterday when it first started popping up on other news aggregators and conservative outlets. As some noted in the comments, I “debunked” the story based on two weak arguments. First, I noted how weak the “evidence” was that there was some quiet coup. Second, I posted how one of the initial disseminators of the rumor that Xi Jinping had been ousted via military coup, Gordon Chang, had acknowledged that despite some strangeness happening in China, it seemed unlikely that a coup was taking place.

By my reckoning, that was enough to determine that it was a almost certainly a fake news story based on speculation and very, VERY limited reporting of any facts on the ground. Nevertheless, some commented that they wanted more than rumors and speculation in order to debunk a story that was based on… rumors and speculation. So, I waited until someone in Beijing to do the debunking for me in person, and here it is. Granted, even though the information is coming from the city itself where the so-called coup is taking place, there will be those who will note that business-as-usual happening in China is not necessarily evidence that a coup has not taken place. Alas, I have no counter-argument to that. Those who want to believe it happened will find reasons to continue to believe it happened until Xi Jinping is back in front of the nation as President of China. Even then, I’m sure some will say it’s all a front to cover up the truth.

I am just as anxious as any America First patriot would would love to see turmoil in Chinese Communist Party leadership. However, I don’t inject “hopium” into my reporting. All indicators point to the very likely case that something big and likely ominous is happening in China right now, but it’s not a coup. With that said, here’s the article by Tyler Durden over at Zero Hedge…

The Chinese rumor mill has gotten out of control over the last 48 hours. For those who have not heard the rumors, Xi has been supposedly removed in a coup ahead of October’s Party Congress.

#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

— Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng 曾錚真言 (@jenniferzeng97) September 23, 2022

By Sept. 24, Xi Jinping had become one of the top trending topics on Twitter. His name appeared on hashtags more than 42,000 times and the term “China coup” circulated 9,300 rounds on the platform, according to The Epoch Times.

“New rumour to be checked out: Is Xi jingping [sic] under house arrest in Beijing?” wrote Subramanian Swamy, a former Indian cabinet minister and parliamentary member until April.

Such speculation also came as Chinese nationals noted alleged mass flight cancellations across the country. Nearly 10,000 flights were supposedly called off on Saturday, the same day a key conference on national defense and military reform was convened in Beijing.

Meanwhile, Xi, who arrived back in China’s capital on Sept. 16 after meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a regional summit in Central Asia, didn’t appear at the Beijing meeting but relayed instructions that the armed forces should focus on preparing for war. Similarly missing was Wei Fenghe, his handpicked Chinese military general currently serving as the country’s national defense minister.

* * *

So those are the rumors, if mostly without any substantiating evidence. Meanwhile, here are some actual facts from the ground in Beijing, courtesy of Der Spiegel correspondent Georg Fahrion…

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

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

This is Xinhua Gate, the main entrance to the Zhongnanhai compound, where the entire central leadership resides and works, including Xi Jinping. Elite paratroopers have wrested control over the gate, cunningly disguised as the five middle-aged dudes who always stand there. /2

Nearby Tian’anmen Square swarms with thugs in plainclothes. I’ve been in China long enough to know these are not tourists. /3

Nearby Tian’anmen Square swarms with thugs in plainclothes. I’ve been in China long enough to know these are not tourists. /3 pic.twitter.com/xTwglk4v8i

— Georg Fahrion (@schorselysees) September 25, 2022

Rebels in army fatigues guard the headquarters of the State Grid, controlling electricity supply in the capital. /4

The Second Ring Road close to the Foreign Ministry. One of Beijing’s main thoroughfares, it has been closed off to civilian traffic. A column of military vehicles stretches about 80 kilometers from here to some place in Hebei. /5

The Second Ring Road close to the Foreign Ministry.

One of Beijing’s main thoroughfares, it has been closed off to civilian traffic. A column of military vehicles stretches about 80 kilometers from here to some place in Hebei. /5 pic.twitter.com/eCIjUIalNS

— Georg Fahrion (@schorselysees) September 25, 2022

In front of the Central Station, holdouts from army units loyal to Xi have dug themselves in, guarding that crucial railway hub from their positions fortified with sandbags. /6

Alas, hope is dim. Coup reinforcements arrive in armored personnel carriers. Send us your thoughts and prayers. /end

The Second Ring Road close to the Foreign Ministry.

One of Beijing’s main thoroughfares, it has been closed off to civilian traffic. A column of military vehicles stretches about 80 kilometers from here to some place in Hebei. /5 pic.twitter.com/eCIjUIalNS

— Georg Fahrion (@schorselysees) September 25, 2022

China analyst Gordon Chang affirmed that a coup is unlikely, pointing to the lack of supporting evidence on the ground.

“I don’t think there was a coup,” he told The Epoch Times. “Because if there were a coup, we would see, for instance, a lot of military vehicles in the center of Beijing. There have been no reports of that. Also, there probably would be a declaration of martial law that has not occurred.”

“So it seems that something is happening, but we don’t know exactly what,” he said, adding that the only thing that can dispel some of the speculations is if Xi comes out to speak in public.

Zhang Tianliang, a writer and author of the Chinese language book “China’s Path to Peaceful Transition,” similarly dismissed the house arrest theory as not conforming to common sense.

During the past week, six senior Chinese officials, including two former cabinet-level officials, were handed heavy sentences for corruption-related offenses, adding to a string of officials purged in Xi’s anti-graft campaign he launched after taking office in late 2012.

How would Xi have the capacity to punish them if he has lost his grip on power, Zhang argued in his show on Sept. 22.

Finally, here is some additional color from Bill Bishop of Sinocism.

It’s CPC elite politics so never say never but I think this round of rumors is BS.

The rumor was originally hyped by an account with a track record of making bogus claims, and in the frenzied amplification no one has presented any credible sourcing or evidence, just lots of wishful thinking.

Today Xinhua announced the full delegate list for the 20th Party Congress and the statement about the selection, also read out on the Sunday CCTV Evening News, opens with the line “Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core”

在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，党的二十大代表选举工作已经顺利完成。全国各选举单位分别召开党代表大会或党代表会议，选举产生了2296名出席党的二十大代表。

And Xi of course is one of the delegates:

We may not see Xi for a while and so his “disappearance” may continue to fuel this and perhaps other rumors.

Whether or not Xi makes a public appearance, though, holds little significance, said Wang He, a U.S.-based commentator on China’s current affairs, noting that such an extended absence from public attention hasn’t been unique for Xi. To Wang, Xi’s overseas trip ahead of the Party congress was a projection of confidence.

“Without absolute assurance, this man will not take risks easily,” he said of Xi.

Article originally published on my Substack.

Of course, there’s also the risk of spreading false rumors. Sometimes it just takes one credible source speculating about a report to get news agencies to jump.

The latest example of a “bombshell” circulating across some independent news outlets is that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been placed under house arrest following a military coup and has been removed from Chinese Communist Party leadership. The “evidence” thus far has been focused on three things:

1. Massive number of flights canceled over the last three days
2. Military vehicles seen on the highway
3. Gossip among U.S. intelligence sources

Then, there’s “hopium” — the desire that often translates into an addiction for positive news of any sort during times of duress. I would love nothing more than to post a retraction to this story, giddily declaring Xi is out. Unfortunately, that’s very unlikely to happen, but several alternative news outlets are running with the story anyway.

As Chinese defector and frequent guest on my show Dr. Li-Meng YAN noted on Twitter, the spreading of these rumors may be originating from Xi himself:

It’s probably because Putin started the crazy mobilization, while Xi uses such rumor to protect himself from any real incitement – considered Xi is Putin’s loyal ally. Xi’s team is good at psychological tactics in propaganda. “Li KeQiang instead of Xi JinPing” was the same trick.

It’s probably because Putin started the crazy mobilization, while Xi uses such rumor to protect himself from any real incitement – considered Xi is Putin’s loyal ally. Xi’s team is good at psychological tactics in propaganda. “Li KeQiang instead of Xi JinPing” was the same trick. https://t.co/BvkKuhPWR1

— Dr. Li-Meng YAN (@DrLiMengYAN1) September 24, 2022

Human Events’ commentator Jack Posobiec thinks it’s the Deep State.

Xi Jinping just had multiple senior CCP officials sentenced to death who opposed him. Lot of people falling for CIA gray propaganda he was arrested. Be smart!

Xi Jinping just had multiple senior CCP officials sentenced to death who opposed him. Lot of people falling for CIA gray propaganda he was arrested. Be smart!

— Jack Poso (@JackPosobiec) September 24, 2022

Are people actually buying that obvious CIA propaganda that Xi Jinping was arrested?

Are people actually buying that obvious CIA propaganda that Xi Jinping was arrested?

— Jack Poso (@JackPosobiec) September 24, 2022

Gordon G. Chang, who was one of the prominent accounts spreading the rumor, admitted later it’s probably false but gave the caveat that there does seem to be something strange happening in China right now. I agree.

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.

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.

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) September 24, 2022

Americans are craving positive news. We want the tide to turn. But that doesn’t mean we need to latch onto outrageous reports or embrace clear propaganda out of a need to smoke the hopium.

Article by Tyler Durden from Zero Hedge.

President Xi Jinping called for China’s central Asian security partners at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to take common steps block external efforts at destabilizing countries through “color revolutions” – a reference to a series of externally backed revolutions which have rocked Middle East and ex-Soviet satellite countries in recent years.

“We should prevent external forces from instigating a color revolution,” Xi said in a Friday speech, offering as part of a potential initiative toward that end to train 2,000 police officers. These officers, he suggested, could be sent through a regional counterterrorism training center which will “strengthen law enforcement capacity building” which would help prevent destabilizing threats from outside.

He asked for countries represented at the conference to “guard against attempts by external forces to provoke a color revolution, and jointly oppose interference in other countries’ internal affairs under any pretext.”

He agreed with prior opening remarks of Vladimir Putin at the summit which emphasized a theme of declining US power as the unipolar world is disappearing. Xi said the regional SCO allies must stand together for a “just, democratic, multipolar world order based on international law and the central role of the UN, and not some rules that somebody invented and attempts to impose on others without even explaining what they are.”

Below is what Xi said regarding regional security cooperation to block external interference and promote a stable order, according to an official translation and transcript:

“…We need to expand security cooperation. A proverb in Uzbekistan goes to the effect that “With peace, a country enjoys prosperity, just as with rain, the land can flourish.” The Global Security Initiative put forward by China is to address the peace deficit and global security challenges. It calls on all countries to stay true to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture. We welcome all stakeholders to get involved in implementing this initiative.”

“We should continue to carry out joint anti-terrorism exercises, crack down hard on terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking as well as cyber and transnational organized crimes; and we should effectively meet the challenges in data security, biosecurity, outer space security and other non-traditional security domains. China is ready to train 2,000 law enforcement personnel for SCO member states in the next five years, and establish a China-SCO base for training counter-terrorism personnel, so as to enhance capacity-building for law enforcement of SCO member states.”

And further on resisting efforts of hegemonic powers in the West to subvert rival strong centers of power, Xi said, “we need to uphold multilateralism. Obsession with forming a small circle can only push the world toward division and confrontation.”

A Russian state news agency says Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned his Central Asian neighbors against allowing outsiders to destabilize them with “color revolutions.” https://t.co/0zzGqBVcGB

— ABC News (@ABC) September 16, 2022

At the summit, Putin had thanked President Xi for China’s “balanced” approach to the Ukraine crisis. Regarding color revolutions, it’s long been the Kremlin’s position that starting in 2014 the US and NATO allies sponsored the Maidan uprising in order to overthrow the Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovych.

Interestingly, Putin himself had at the SCO summit spoken of the West’s drive to dismantle Russia itself through penetrating and destabilizing actions, particularly in neighboring Ukraine…

Putin: The West has for decades sought to dismantle Russia and is now trying to use Ukraine as a tool for achieving this goal. pic.twitter.com/b4o9mznWiX

— Putin Direct (@PutinDirect) September 16, 2022

But that may not be the case. There have been rumblings and rumors in China that other party leaders aren’t happy with him and may be moving to replace him. This may be why they have adopted a new “Hard Fist” stance on “crime,” though as China Uncensored host Chris Chappell noted in the video below, the real criminals are the leaders of the police state that reigns over the people.