Inscrutable China.

"The internet is abuzz with speculation about China President Xi Jinping being under house arrest. According to several posts on social media, Xi Jinping has been removed as the head of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and has been placed under house arrest. Neither the country's ruling Chinese Communist Party nor the state media have given an official confirmation yet." NDTV. "The video of military vehicles moving to Beijing comes immediately after the grounding of 59 percent of the flights in the country and the jailings of senior officials. There's a lot of smoke, which means there is a fire somewhere inside the CCP. China is unstable," said author Gordon G Chang. However, "China expert Aadil Brar noted that Xi is likely in quarantine after returning from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, which would explain his absence from public affairs at the moment. Brar also shared flight data showing there is no disruption of flights. He further shared visuals of public briefings by senior Chinese officials, suggesting the government is functioning normally." Outlook. In March 2018, "China has approved the removal of the two-term limit on the presidency, effectively allowing Xi Jinping to remain in power for life." BBC. "China had imposed a two-term limit on its president since the 1990s." In 2016, "China's Communist Party gave President Xi Jinping the title of 'core' leader..., putting him on par with past strongmen like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, but it signaled his power would not be absolute." Reuters. However, retired party leaders like 94-year old former Premier Zhu Rongji voiced opposition to Xi's plan to be elected for a third term this year. HT. Xi has done the disappearing act before. "In August 2012, Chinese politician Xi Jinping suddenly disappeared for three weeks. China's 18th Party Congress was weeks away, an event where Xi would be anointed as China's next leader." npr. Apparently, he was consolidating support among party elders for his ant-corruption drive which would put any opponents behind bars. Xi could be trying to generate support for his third term this time and he could have ordered PLA vehicles to move to Beijing to protect him till the Party Congress. "A novel study in China led by MIT scholars shows that anticorruption punishments meted out by government authorities receive significant support among citizens," and "The findings help explain how authoritarian governments endure, not merely based on domination and fear, but as regimes generating positive public support over time." MIT News. "By 2017, 15,000 party members had received punishment for violations of CCP discipline, more than the number punished during the Tiananmen purge of 1989-1992. Another highlight of the political discipline campaign was the expulsion of 63 military generals." Diplomat. Xi Jinping has every reason to hang on to power for life. His opponents want revenge. Xi could be trying to endplay his opponents. Or, he is down.