Is Chinese President Xi Jinping under house arrest? BJP leader Subramanian Swamy weighs in as rumours swirl

Beijing: There is speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping is presently under house arrest in Beijing, with many on social media platforms claiming that a new President has been appointed. The allegations come mere days after Xi attended the SCO summit in Samarkand alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other world leaders. Unverified reports suggested that the Chinese Communist Party has removed him from the helm, with General Li Qiaoming likely to succeed Xi.

"New rumour to be checked out: Is Xi jingping 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 Army. Then House arrest followed. So goes the rumour," the senior BJP leader said on Saturday.

Swamy also retweeted several posts highlighting alleged details about the Chinese leader's detention. "If civilian control, through Xi’s office, is removed on the military, War will be certain. We don’t need Russia and China for our economy...What if Xi was the moderate (not good enough for us) and PLA is trigger happy (that will mean war is certain)?" the former Rajya Sabha MP told Twitter users in response to questions about the possible repercussions for India.

But even as allegations about his ouster swirl, counter-reports have claimed that the CCP is expected to amend its constitution next month to help further consolidate Xi's authority. As per media reports, concerns have also been raised in some quarters that the current leader is hoping to emulate the Great Helmsman's supreme status in the party hierarchy.

At the CCP's 20th National Congress on October 16, Xi will be seeking an unprecedented third term in office, after amending the constitution to abolish presidential term limits in 2018. The move comes amid growing fears of a Mao-style personality cult around Xi, as institutions and political figures compete to show utmost loyalty to Xi and his personal brand of political ideology.