Amid hysterical buzz of 'Coup against Xi Jinping', Internet don't know what to believe

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday became a talking point amid buzz that the leader is under "house arrest" currently. Soon after the speculation that perhaps the Chinese President had been placed under house arrest by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Jinping became the top trend on Twitter, with several users sharing funny memes and messages.

Notably, no official confirmation has been received yet from the Chinese Communist Party or the state media. However, the speculations were further fuelled after several international and domestic flights to and from Beijing were cancelled. The city has also been reportedly cut off from the rest of the world.

The news of Jinping being under house arrest spread like a wildfire after Chinese human right activist Jennifer Zeng shared a video on Twitter. "PLA military vehicles heading to Beijing on September 22. Starting from Huanlai County near Beijing and ending in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, the entire procession is as long as 80 km. Meanwhile, rumour has it that Xi Jinping was under arrest after CCP seniors removed him as head of PLA," she tweeted. 

Following the news, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MP Dr Subramanian Swamy reacted in an interesting way. Terming the news a rumour, Dr Swamy took to Twitter and said, "New rumour to be checked out: Is Xi Jinping under house arrest in Beijing? When Xi was in Samarkand recently, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party were supposed to have removed Xi from the Party’s in-charge of the Army. Then House arrest followed. So goes the rumour."

'Bonkers rumor', cries internet 

However, the news gained huge traction on social media platforms as some believed the news while some shared memes and messages calling it fake but with a unique sense of humour. Reacting to the news, one user wrote, "There is an absolute bonkers rumour going out that Xi Jinping was arrested after a coup. Most likely it's false but one can only dream."

Meanwhile, some Chinese nationals on Twitter posted about Xi Jinping’s alleged house arrest, and few claimed that the PLA has taken over control of the army.