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Since writing Walls of Men, I’ve been following news on China much more closely. Obviously, the subject interests me, but I also have skin in the game since offering my take on the PRC’s military capabilities and the impact of Chinese culture on it.

Of course, getting straight news out of a Communist country is always difficult, and my lack of area-appropriate language skills puts me at even more of a disadvantage. (This contrasts with German politics, which I can follow much more closely even with my degraded German language skills.)

I’ve taken to watching various Youtube channels and this posting by China Observer (which seems reasonably accurate) caught my attention. It purports to document the mobilization and large-scale movements of Chinese troops towards Beijing and its environs. Obviously, much of this could be fake, or years old and re-packaged for the clicks. I’m waiting to see if other channels pick up on it.

However, what is not in dispute is that a large number of Chinese military leaders have recently been removed from command, and some have been kicked out of the Chinese Communist Party. This is very significant because the People’s Liberation Army is not loyal to the nation of China, but to the CCP. One cannot hold a high position without being a party member.

Thus, when one expels high commanders from the CCP, they are effectively excommunicated from the PLA as well. To see so many top leaders removed at once is highly unusual, especially when it includes the commander of the rocket forces and especially the commander of the People’s Armed Police, a national paramilitary organization that got extremely buffed up after the reported failure of various PLA units to follow orders during the Tiananmen Square crisis in 1989.

This is a big deal.

I don’t know enough about the players to indulge in armchair Kremlinology, but there is no question that if a similar purge happened in the Soviet Union, it would have gotten a lot of attention. Of course, the ChiComs are much, much better at manipulating Western media than the Soviets ever were.

As always, the fallback is simply to see how things work out. When tanks are parking in the city centers, the truth will come out.