China coup rumour has been spreading. One of the top headlines last week was the hashtag “ChinaCoup.”
How false rumours about anything from Xi Jinping‘s purported house imprisonment to the opening of Beijing’s airspace to other topics dominated social media platforms.
We look into the history of the trends and how the story gained international attention.
This is an example of how the internet and social media can help propagate false information around the world.
In actuality, a military takeover in China would rock the world. Markets will collapse. Alignments in geopolitics will alter.
Diplomatic missions will operate around the clock. Political unrest will result in China. We observed prominent accounts sharing on social media. information that is false and unreliable with absolute assurance.
Winners of the Pulitzer Prize were featured in this.
It also reveals that China is opaque, in contrast to other nations.
While it might just take a few hours to confirm a clandestine military revolution in another region of the world, the coup rumours in China practically circulated for two whole days before it was put down.
How did the rumours get started?
Drew Thompson, a former Department of Defense representative for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia who is currently stationed in Singapore, is one of the observers who have identified Zhao Lanjian as the source of the rumour (not to be confused with Zhao Lijian, who is the Deputy Director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department).
According to reports, Zhao Lanjian resides in New York and frequently writes for the New Tang Dynasty TV.
It’s vital to remember that members of the Falun Gong new religious movement, which has its headquarters in New York, formed the New Tang Dynasty network in 2001.
They frequently denounce the Chinese Communist Party’s abuses of authority.
Naturally, New Tang Dynasty TV grabbed this up and it quickly gained popularity.
Numerous, well-known Chinese observers, such as YouTuber Jennifer Zeng, added more details to this to give it more credibility, such as the empty airspace over China and the movement of military vehicles.
China coup rumour
The New Tang Dynasty TV presented a story regarding Xi Jinping’s disappearance and the rumours surrounding his house arrest.
Along with the fabrication of coup rumours, social media was also a major factor in the rapid spread of incorrect information.
Dr David Spencer, a lecturer in communications at the University of Canberra, spoke exclusively to India Today and revealed his Gephi visualisations and analysis results.
Over the course of 48 hours, he analysed nearly 100k messages from 50K Twitter handles, identifying the well-known users that were engaging in this discussion.
“The most important factor that made this an interesting example of the spread of unsubstantiated rumour was that although some reported false events as facts, many of the tweets contributed to the spread, intentionally or not, didn’t make outright false claims. Instead, the claims were couched as speculation – saying this is rumoured to be happening, or that it’s unclear what’s going on. Nonetheless, these tweets spread the rumours further. The false narrative travelled as much by doubt and speculation as by overtly false claims. Of course, where this is deliberate, it provides plausible deniability that anyone is intending to seed social media with false reports.”
Is China an enigma?
Returning to our earlier observation that China’s political and military structures are opaque, it is undeniable that Xi Jinping is under considerable anti-incumbency strain and is under some pressure from his fellow party members.
His brief absence from the public glare after the SCO summit sparked a variety of rumours while he was away recovering or quarantining himself.
According to a British journalist working in Beijing who spoke on the condition of anonymity, it is more probable that Xi Jinping would be put under pressure by members of his own party and the group of ministers than it is that he will have to deal with a military coup.
The top leadership may encounter opposition from others, but the CCP is still as powerful as ever in politics.
The way in which Xi Jinping manages his party and the army, as well as the reasons why it is so difficult to execute a coup against the supreme leader, are very much in line with the situation on the ground, as expertly described by Ankit Kumar for India Today.
