A Standoff in Beijing: Troops, Lockdowns, and a “Nuclear Leak”?

Hello everyone, welcome to Lei's Real Talk. I've never done a program on Sunday night. This is the first. Information coming out of China is so fascinating that I can't wait to tell you about it. When rumors first began circulating that Zhang Youxia had been arrested, many people didn't believe it, including myself. At the time, it sounded extreme, too dramatic. But once the official announcement came out on Saturday, the skepticism disappeared. Most people accepted that he's now indeed fallen, or he had indeed fallen. However, and this is where things take another sharp turn, rumors are now circulating again. And according to these new claims, the general has been rescued and is now, is actually not in Xi Jinping's custody. And even more striking, these rumors are coming from the same source that accurately predicted the general's downfall in the first place. Remember at the end of my program last night, I briefly mentioned it. I said that there are claims that he is actually not in custody. But to be completely honest with you, I didn't quite know how to process that information. The twists and turns were simply too dramatic, even by CCP standards. But today, these rumors refuse to go away. And because this rumor network has a strong track record, and because it comes from the same source that correctly predicted everything, I decided to walk you through it, not as confirmation, but just as an alternative assessment of what may be happening behind the scenes. Now, one of the earliest people to break the news about the general's arrest was writer and economist, Su Xiaohe. I don't have slides for you tonight, but I did ask Chris to provide the reference links in the description. So I think I gave him, there were three video links where Mr. Su made the claims. And if you understand Chinese, you could watch his programs. Now, for four straight days, he repeatedly told his audience that Zhang Youxia was in serious trouble and taken into custody. But over the last two days, his message has changed dramatically, even to his own disbelief. And so what he said was, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli are not in detention. Zhang escaped with Liu's help and is currently located in a mysterious place. I think it's one of PLA's command centers, but we don't know which one. And according to this version, Xi Jinping arrested Zhang Youxia's family members, associates, and more than 30 staff members at the Joint Staff Command Center, but failed to capture the two generals themselves. So in short, Xi Jinping struck hard, but missed the main targets. And there's also an earlier version of this rumor that helped explain how this might have happened. So according to that account, after Zhang Youxia was taken away by a secret police unit, he managed to use a secure internal communication channel to alert his subordinates that he was in danger. It could be a button or something with him that he used to send an SOS signal. And in response, General Liu Zhenli mobilized. General Liu Zhenli is the chief of the Joint Staff Command Center. He is the highest-ranking operational commander in the PLA, and he's a long-time loyalist, a long-time ally of General Zhang Youxia. So General Liu mobilized hundreds of elite troops and armored vehicles surrounded the site and successfully rescued Zhang. And the previous claim said that he wasn't successful in rescuing other people that got detained with the general, but General Zhang was rescued. Now, Mr. Su also emphasized the critical point here. He said, Xi Jinping still controls propaganda and the police, but he doesn't control the army still. And according to his sources, the PLA is still under General Zhang's control. And he's, like I said previously, in a mysterious place, but he's with his troops. And based on the most recent information coming out of Beijing, there's an intense standoff in China right now. So let's talk about what's happening on the ground. And according to his reports, Xi Jinping has entered what's being described as the highest wartime defense posture. He has reportedly retreated into an ultra-deep underground bunker, roughly 200 meters underground. And it's said that only four countries in the world possess facilities of this depth, and they are Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and China. Even North Korea is believed not to have underground air defense or secret compound facilities that go that deep. So Xi Jinping has already entered what some called an ironclad fortress. So the obvious question is why? Now let's talk about what was reportedly heard today. So yesterday afternoon at around 4pm, that's actually our 4am this morning, a massive explosion was reportedly heard in western Beijing near Lugou Bridge. And according to information he received, two PLA divisions linked to Zhang Youxia, one positioned in Shanxi and the other in Zhangjiakou, have already pushed forward. Again, in western Beijing, there were reports of violent explosions. And according to these claims, the two divisions that are loyal to Zhang Youxia have successfully linked up. They're said to have reached the area just outside the Sixth Ring Road of Beijing. You know how Beijing has, I don't know, seven ring roads, like highways that go around the capital. And so that's only a stone's throw from Zhongnanhai. And that is why Xi Jinping has entered his bunker. That's what's coming out of Beijing right now. So the next question is obvious. What about the rest of the country? And Mr. Su gave an update. So nationwide, the picture is being described like this. First, Xi Jinping has issued orders to all major military regions to be fully prepared. And across provinces and theater commands, partial military control has already been implemented. So what does that mean? What does partial military control mean? It means that officers and commanders are now reportedly working jointly with provincial party secretaries and governors. So think about it. What does that mean? Oh, by the way, this order came directly from Xi Jinping himself. So he ordered the local PLA officers and commanders to work jointly with their local provincial leaders. And it was said this order was given by Xi Jinping himself, transmitted by phone and fax. Now the objective here is very obvious, right? To use local civilian officials to restrain and monitor the military. As a result, the current situation across China is being described as semi-martial law. That's coming from Mr. Su. With the exception of Tibet, nearly all regions have entered this state. And that's the second major point. Third, all military residential compounds in Beijing, every compound where soldiers and their families live, even retired officers and their families live, have been completely sealed off. These compounds are heavily concentrated in western suburbs of Beijing, and every single one of them is under lockdown. Fourth, reports say that military forces in Xinjiang and Sichuan have begun moving on their own. These forces are described as Zhang Youxia's loyalists. You may remember that some time ago, senior leadership in the Xinjiang military district, including commanders, commissars, and their deputies, were all reshuffled. And looking back now, this appears to have been part of Zhang Youxia's earlier preparation. And according to this leak, whisper, rumor, whatever you call that, Zhang has already neutralized Xi's people in Xinjiang military district. So that district is now entirely under Zhang Youxia's influence. And so it's said that the Xinjiang forces are mobilizing and may be moving toward Beijing. Now as for Sichuan, Xi Jinping has long tried to seize control of the region's military leadership, which falls under the Western Theater Command. The commander there is said to be aligned with Hu Jintao's camp and refused to follow Xi Jinping. And she made several inspection trips to Sichuan, trying to win over the commander there, but failed. Now Sichuan forces, also said to be aligned with Zhang Youxia, have begun taking action as well. Now it's worth mentioning that Sichuan is Deng Xiaoping's home base. Historically, it's not a region friendly to Xi Jinping. Okay, fifth point. Across Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and many other cities, especially the cities with a subway system, it's been observed that roughly half of subway lines are suspended. The stations are filled with police, not soldiers. Police are deployed with live ammunition. So this suggests something very important. Urban control across China is quietly in the hands of the Ministry of Public Security, which is run by one of Xi Jinping's loyalists, his minister, Wang Xiaohong. In China, subways are built half for transportation and half for wartime use. That is why Beijing's subway system is built extremely deep. It doubles as an air raid shelter. Right now, the subway system nationwide is in a semi-shutdown state. Number six. The Central Military Commission is said to be effectively paralyzed. The General Staff Department, which normally handles military command, has been thrown into chaos. Xi Jinping attempted to arrest Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhengli, but failed and came up empty-handed. In response, more than 30 staff members and civilian personnel from the General Staff Department were taken away. As a result, the department is now out of control and effectively shut down. At the moment, there is no visible formal chain of command coming from the Central Military Commission. However, according to his reports, commanders and political commissars across various theater commands are secretly receiving orders through encrypted channels controlled by Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhengli. Xi Jinping's side allegedly has no access to these military systems because they are strictly military networks and Xi Jinping's police apparatus and security apparatus cannot enter them. In that sense, Xi Jinping has finally run into a real technical opponent. It's a technical issue. According to this report, with a single phone call, a single speech, or a single fax, Xi Jinping cannot win over all the generals and bring the entire PLA firmly under his own control overnight. That did not happen and cannot happen. Everything I've said or everything I just laid out comes from Mr. Su's account. Next, I want to share with you some videos I saw today. I think they support his claims. Let me play these videos. Someone saw at a train station a train transporting military vehicles today or maybe yesterday. That's very unusual. If you remember what I told you yesterday, it was said that Xi Jinping has ordered all of the PLA to enter the wartime zone and they have to turn in their cell phones. This is a civilian taking a video saying that passenger cars are blocked from getting onto the highway and they have to wait until these military vehicles pass. So this person was just sitting there waiting for these military vehicles. Now, if you think about it, this is because Xi Jinping has ordered the PLA to stop. All military movements and deployment have been suspended. He has ordered the PLA to enter a collective study mode and turn in their cell phones. I believe that's the most effective way for him to prevent any mutiny, to prevent any military units from getting organized. So you wonder what all of these movements are all about, just like you just saw in the video. Who ordered them? So I think they indirectly support Mr. Su's claim that someone is still sending orders and the military units are still moving around against Xi Jinping's wish. So naturally, many of you may ask the ultimate question. Hold on, let me get rid of the video. So if Xi Jinping didn't actually detain the two generals, why did he get the nerve? Where did he get the nerve to make such a swift public announcement? And that's dangerous. Well, according to people who hold this view, that is precisely Xi Jinping's strategy. They believe the sudden announcement itself is a classic CCP political tactic, what the Chinese call or what it means is what's done is done. Actually, there's a French expression, is it called fait accompli? It means that when raw rice has been cooked, you cannot uncook it. So act first, and then force everyone to accept the outcome later. Now, Xi Jinping controls the propaganda system. So it's very likely that he made a calculated gamble. Once the investigation announcement is publicly released, his opponents are pressured to fall in line because he is the party chief. And here's why this matters. Within the CCP system, acknowledging that Xi Jinping made a mistake will be equivalent to admitting that the party itself made a mistake. And that is something the CCP has never openly allowed in its history. And if they acknowledge that Xi Jinping made a mistake, then he has to step down. And so Xi Jinping is taking advantage of the party elders' sentiment that they want to preserve, they want to save face for the regime. And he's using his home court advantage, which is his control of propaganda, control of official language, and the fact that he is the party head to push the system into accepting what you call a fait accompli. So that's his strategy. So in short, it was a high-risk political gamble, bluffing. Now, other sources add another layer to this picture. They say the CCP's bureaucratic system is currently in a state of disorder and paralysis, with different functions unable to coordinate or enforce a unified line. And in that environment, bold announcements can temporarily substitute for real control. According to some other sources—this is not Mr. Su's, this is someone else's, and this has been going viral today—they say that the authorities have paused any further action on the general for now. And the news, his arrest, didn't make it to the front page of major newspaper and news website today. It didn't make it to the evening news yesterday. You know, CCTV's 8 o'clock primetime news is a weathervane of CCP politics. It didn't make it last night. And in tonight's evening news, I watched that segment. It was indirectly, it was buried insignificantly, and it was indirectly mentioned as a PLA Daily's editorial. It didn't sound like, oh, you know, the vice chairman of CMC, Zhang Youxia, committed these crimes, are being investigated. It didn't go like that. It was mentioned indirectly. The names were mentioned, but it was more like, okay, the PLA editorial today, or the PLA published an editorial yesterday that said this. So the CCTV effectively put the blame on the PLA Daily. They didn't say anything. They just repeated after the PLA Daily's editorial, and it was placed in an insignificant spot. And so CCP's most important state media, like People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, they have all handled this alleged arrest in an extremely low-key manner. Given Zhang Youxia's position, this muted coverage is completely disproportionate to the political weight of the event. As of this moment, Zhang Youxia's profile information is still visible on the central government's website and listed as a Politburo member. However, his name is removed from the defense ministry's website. So in other words, the system itself is sending mixed signals. Let me take a sip of water. So the risk of a political flashpoint is rising. Now let me move to something very interesting that came out today. Earlier today, the Wall Street Journal published an exclusive report on Zhang Youxia. The headline allegation is striking. According to the report, it says, China's most senior general is accused of leaking information about the country's nuclear weapons program to the United States and accepting bribes in exchange for official acts. The article was written by Wei Lingling, the journal's lead China correspondent. She graduated from China's Fudan University. Guess who taught at that school? Wang Huning. Yeah, Fudan University has a connection to CCP leadership. Anyways, so she graduated from Fudan University and then later, she attended New York University. Now, some people online claim she is a third generation CCP princeling. I don't know whether that's true or not. I'm not asserting it is true. But what I do question very seriously is the source behind this story. To me, this article has Xi Jinping's fingerprints all over it. Let me explain. First, the Wall Street Journal has a long track record of unusually close access to Xi Jinping's inner circle. Some even accuse the journal of being the mouthpiece for the Xi faction. How do we know this? Let's go back to 2022, right before the 20th Party Congress, when Xi Jinping secured his third term. At the time, every media outlet, Chinese and Western alike, was guessing who would end up on the new Politburo Standing Committee. Everyone published their lists. Everyone got it wrong, except one, the Wall Street Journal. The journal accurately predicted the final seven-member Standing Committee. Now, we know that Xi Jinping made last-minute changes to the leadership lineup and deliberately concealed them from party elders, including Hu Jintao. When Hu realized what had happened during the meeting, remember the entire episode when Hu Jintao was trying to look at the folder and then Li Zhanshu was trying to hide the document from him? When that was happening, Xi Jinping had Hu escorted out of the meeting in front of cameras. So, here's the key question. How did the Wall Street Journal know the final list before Hu Jintao even did? There's only one plausible answer. They had access to Xi Jinping's inner circle and knew the plan in advance. Now, fast forward to today. The world is still stunned by Beijing's sudden announcement of the downfall of its top general. Many people are openly questioning the legality of his arrest. The situation is clearly unsettled. And at this exact moment, the Wall Street Journal drops a bombshell, claiming that Zhang Youxia leaked China's nuclear weapons secrets to the United States for bribe, for money. Do I believe it? No. And here's why. Ask yourself this question. Why would the PLA's top commander sell nuclear weapons secrets to an adversary? What would Zhang Youxia's motivation be? Money? No. He wouldn't take that risk for money. And also, he has more money than what the Americans can offer. Immigration opportunities for his children? Also no. In fact, Zhang Youxia is widely believed to be the only bureau member whose children have neither been educated in the West or lived in the West. Money and overseas arrangements for family members are typical motivations for mid-level or junior officials, not for someone at Zhang Youxia's level. If he does it, he does it openly, just like Xi Jinping sent his daughter to the United States. Xi Jinping doesn't need to bribe anyone to do that. He just does it, right? So what about the idea that Zhang Youxia wanted to work with the Americans to overthrow Xi Jinping? Even if that were true, leaking nuclear weapons information would be the worst possible way to do it. That would be political suicide. And from the American side, this story makes even less sense. Think about it. If U.S. intelligence had an interest in Zhang Youxia—I'm sure they do—their interest would far exceed nuclear weapons data. His real value would lie in strategic intent, elite decision making. His value far exceeds some nuclear weapons program. So if the CIA wanted technical weapon information, they would go after technocrats or lower-ranking officers. They wouldn't burn a potential top-level asset in this way. So let me put it simply. Think about it. If you are a billionaire, would you ask another billionaire friend to shoplift a $200 item for you? Of course not. So Zhang Youxia's value to the United States, if there were any contact at all—I'm not saying that there is any—so his value would be far greater than nuclear weapons blueprints. And he wouldn't do it for money. So Zhang knows that, and the CIA knows that. Only a fool would believe that Zhang Youxia would disclose sensitive nuclear weapons information to the U.S. in the way described by the journal. That is why I say again, this story carries Xi Jinping's fingerprints all over it. It's part of Cai Qi's cognitive warfare to build a strong case for his boss. Because Xi Jinping desperately needs to justify his action, and the Wall Street Journal came to his rescue. Now let me be clear about one thing. Saying this does not mean the United States is irrelevant to the broader drama. Let's ask ourselves a question. Is it possible that the Americans have quietly helped Zhang Youxia in his struggle with Xi Jinping? I think that's possible. Remember what I told you about a month ago, that Zhang Youxia disappeared from the public view around the time of his visit to Moscow? There were whispers that a mysterious third country warned him of a potential assassination attempt. And according to these rumors, Zhang left Moscow early and made a detour through Mongolia before returning to China. And shortly after, the PLA's air force commander fell. Rumor had it that the PLA's air force was trying to create a crash by manipulating Zhang Youxia's air route or aircraft. Anyway, some people have speculated that this mysterious third country could be the United States. And that speculation isn't completely groundless, because the US has a strong and growing presence in Mongolia, especially after the two countries elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2019. Then came another shock. Maduro's capture sent shockwaves around the world, and certainly through Beijing. So is it possible that Xi Jinping began to suspect Zhang Youxia was cooperating with the Americans against him? Very likely. So here's my bottom line. The Wall Street Journal article carefully avoided the real core issue, because touching it would mean exposing Xi Jinping's fear and dirty laundry. Instead, the report functions as a justification for Xi's camp to take down the general. It's not an investigation. So, in my opinion, Xi Jinping is using foreign media to help build his case against the general. And it doesn't stop here. Just today, new reports began circulating claiming that Zhang Youxia has dozens of children born through IVF in the West. Now, I don't believe it. Think about it. Zhang Youxia didn't even bother to send his children to be educated in the West. Zhang Youxia strikes me as someone who's old school. So whether those claims are true or not is beside the point. They fit the same pattern. This is about stacking accusations, flooding the information space, and shaping perception, not about establishing facts. In the coming days, we'll see more of this in the West. Let's wait and see which mainstream media outlet will be the next to step in and help. Now, let me be clear about what I do and do not believe. I don't necessarily believe that the two generals are free men right now. It's very difficult to evaluate, but it's certainly possible. But I do believe this. I do believe that Xi Jinping is fully capable and motivated. He's capable of and motivated to use the propaganda system to conduct state-level bluffing to his advantage. That's his character. That's his personality. He may be using the general's family members as leverage, even as hostages, applying pressure, buying time, and negotiating behind the scenes. This possibility cannot be dismissed. And most importantly, the story is still unfolding. Some suggest that I do a program every day to cover the subject. Now, if we follow this logic that I laid out tonight, if you really think about it, then the claim that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhengli were plotting a coup, that the plan was leaked, and that Xi Jinping simply reacted with countermeasures, and that he eventually arrested the generals, that entire narrative now looks like cognitive warfare orchestrated by Xi Jinping's camp. If the two generals are indeed not in detention, then that would be narrative. A more likely scenario is this, in my opinion. Zhang Youxia was likely detained during a high-level meeting when he was only escorted by a half dozen of his bodyguards. And before he could be fully neutralized, he managed to send a signal to his loyalists, and then they moved fast. That intervention may have changed the balance of the situation, which is why what we're seeing now looks less like a clean purge, and more like a dangerous standoff. That's exactly why I say this case is far from being over yet. All right, so that's what I have for you. I feel compelled to offer you a different view. It's a completely different view. Yesterday, I wasn't so sure about this, but today, as I got to see more information coming out of China, I think it deserves our attention. I provided the original source links in the description, and you can take a look. All right, wow, there are 6,000 people online right now. This is exciting. All right, okay, let's see. Wow, any questions? How about I do a program every night on the subject? Someone suggested that to me. Wow, there are a lot of comments, but I don't know which one. Let me address the super stickers. All right, Kevin Steinwitz, will CCP have a second coup, civil war, or revolution? With what was leaked from Mr. Su's source, it looks like a civil war is likely. I also heard from a Chinese who said that they saw, I don't know if this is confirmed or not, but they said that the Japanese consulate in China have alerted their nationals living in China to be on alert in the case that there's an evacuation. I didn't have time to verify that, so those of you who have access to the Japanese consulate in China or the Japanese embassy in China, please share your information. But that would tell us something. Something is happening. All right. Wow, there are a lot of comments. Well, I want to thank the people who awarded me with super stickers. Oh, Kevin again, who leads the CCP air force and who is his loyal to? The air force commander died, I mean, was taken down, but then he was sacked, but rumor has it that he died. But I don't know who's taking his place. Maybe the deputy commander is filling in for him right now. There's so many vacancies that they say that the only four generals left in the PLA. If the two are arrested, there are only four left. Okay. Well, and also the reason that I don't think we should discredit these claims is that Mr. Su accurately predicted Zhang Youxia's downfall. And for four days, he consistently told his story. I mean, it was hard for me to ignore that, but then he was right. He was right. Yeah, he nailed it. And now, so for now, for him to saying that the situation has evolved, that's what I decided to pay attention. Okay, there's so many comments. All right. Let me thank the people who, where are you? Charles Womack. Well, thank you, Charles. Oh, here we go. Shandu Guardian. Well, thank you, Shandu Guardian. JB, who are the five forces commander loyal to? Who are the five forces commanders loyal to? I mean, Xi Jinping has not really been involved in military affairs for a good year now. So I would say that at this point, they are the ones, they are the commanders that Zhang Youxia has picked. So that's who they are loyal to at the moment. Lars Rocha. Hey, just wanted to support your channel and say hi. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. All right, for my Sunday's Sunday effort. Sunday is the only day that I take off, but I decided to do this program because I feel so compelled. What does the average Chinese citizen support? Xi or Zhang? People don't really know enough about Zhang Youxia to like or dislike him. At least they don't hate him. But everyone, or I shouldn't say everyone, but a lot of people, a lot of people hate Xi Jinping. In fact, I heard someone saying that there was an internal survey done, secretly done in China, that Xi Jinping only has 10% support. And that 10% is lower than the support that the Iranian Supreme Leader has. I think the Iranian Supreme Leader has a support rate that's higher than 10% in his own country. So people look at it this way. Zhang Youxia has not done anything during his career to harm people. But Xi Jinping has done a lot to hurt people. So that's how they compare the two. They don't care what Zhang Youxia has done or not done. But whatever he does or whatever he did, didn't really affect people's life. And so that's why people are okay with him, right? But Xi Jinping is different. So hopefully that answers your question. Lars Rocha, thank you. All right. Sunday night is doing very well for us. Maybe I should do more programs Sunday night? Terry. Thank you, Terry. All right. That seems to be all. Because it's Sunday night, how about we end it earlier? Question. Oh, here's a question. Let me just pick this one. James Honey, how or why does our MSN not report any of this? This is also critical. Oh, our MSN is infiltrated by the CCP. They have employed, just like our banks, I would say a few years ago, all the major banks in the US have hired the third generation of CCP elites, the third generation princelings. They even have a hiring program dedicated to them. They thought that by hiring their children, they could have an inroad, they could have a way to break into the Chinese market. All the banks have hired them. I'm sure all the MSN outlets have the same kind of practice. So now you know why our banks are so disappointing. I know Donald Trump sued the Chase Bank. I have personal stories to tell you. That's shocking what the Chase Bank has done to its employee. It's beyond, you know, and it was done during Jamie Dimon's time. So all the banks. Yeah, you'll be surprised what they have done. Anyways, so what was I saying? So you asked me why MSN are not reporting these. I found them to be more on the side of the CCP when it comes to critical issue. They will criticize CCP on non-important issues, things that the CCP leadership doesn't really care. But when it comes to issues that the CCP leader really cares, then they do it gently to help them. Yeah. Okay, I will end it here because it's Sunday night. Brian Cowell. Well, thank you, Brian. Brian Cobb. Two different Brians. Thank you. Take a day off. Your last video was long and you worked very hard on it. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Brian. All right. That's all for tonight. Thank you very much for joining me and I'll see you next week. Bye.