ASSESSMENTS

The Lesson Behind China's Coup Rumors

Mar 23, 2012 | 18:41 GMT

A Chinese woman online in Beijing

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

A series of posts on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo between March 19 and March 22 rapidly spiraled into rumors in international media of a coup against China's political leadership. According to the rumors, the coup attempt was led by Zhou Yongkang, a member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee and alleged ally of former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai. The rumors are almost certainly false, but that did not stop them from spreading through Hong Kong, U.S. and global media outlets and even momentarily causing worry in international financial markets.

Social media play an increasingly important but unpredictable role in shaping Chinese social and political life, as the rapid spread of these rumors suggests. Regardless of their truth, political rumors reflect growing awareness and unease among a relatively small but very vocal segment of the public — urban, educated Chinese — over the political situation in Beijing. In a country where outright criticism is sharply curbed, rumors offer an indirect avenue for expressing dissent. More important, because of social media, such rumors are traveling farther and faster and garnering more attention from international news outlets than ever before.

In a country where outright criticism is sharply curbed, rumors offer an indirect avenue for expressing dissent....

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