Coup in Beijing, Says Chinese Internet Rumor Mill

reply to post by Drew99GT


If only we really knew what is going on in Beijing. Maybe they are rounding up people that are planing a type of Asian spring. Just a thought.

The following BBC article says a coup probably hasn't happened, but that the rumours, tied to recent events, indicate a power struggle within the topmost echelons of the Communist Party ahead of a ten-yearly leadership shuffle due later this year.

Damaging coup rumours ricochet across China on BBC World News.

The author of the story, BBC Beijing correspondent Damien Grammaticas, cites such recent occurruences as the bid for US asylum by Wang Lijun, deputy mayor and police chief of Chonqing, the dismissal of Bo Jilai, his boss, who was also reprimanded by Premier Wen Jibao (a popular figure known to the Chinese as 'Father Wen'), investigations into high-level corruption and so on.

In other words, it isn't a coup, but things are unstable and could yet turn nasty.

reply to post by Astyanax

At his closing speech during the Communist Party Meeting about a week ago, Premier Wen Jia Bo said China has to initiate reforms now or face a possible new cultural revolution. There are still those "old guards" within the ranks of the Communist Party who think that China should project a more proactive and assertive stance to the foreign policies of Western nations. Maybe these faction feels that the West is trying to stifle the growth of China. I think China needs a level headed leader to steer the nation and not a "hot head" upstart. Confrontations in many areas will definitely lead to war....that is for sure. The current batch of leaders are more accomodating but is viewed as timid by those factions. That is why too much "pushing" by foreign powers is bad for everyone.... for changes are not always for the better.

reply to post by slanteye

I think China needs a level headed leader to steer the nation and not a "hot head" upstart.

I agree, it is a very difficult and challenging job with lots of information and many implications to consider. A leader who runs around barking out orders just stresses everyone out.

reply to post by slanteye

There are still those "old guards" within the ranks of the Communist Party who think that China should project a more proactive and assertive stance to the foreign policies of Western nations. Maybe these faction feels that the West is trying to stifle the growth of China.

Foreign policy is, frankly, the least of China's problems. The primary and most urgent concerns of China's leaders are domestic. Westerners tend to see China through the lens of their own countries' and cultures' interaction with it. Try putting yourself in Chinese shoes instead.

I think China needs a level headed leader to steer the nation and not a "hot head" upstart.

There are no upstart hotheads in the Chinese Politburo. Future leaders serve decades-long apprenticeships in the Party ranks, starting out as local administrators at provincial level and rising slowly through the hierarchy. By the time they get within sniffing distance of power, they are old, wise, cunning and cautious.

Confrontations in many areas will definitely lead to war....that is for sure.

China's present assertiveness is regional, finely calculated and highly unlikely to lead to war.