On August 5, 2014, Radio Free Asia published an article titled, “Some Kind of Coup May Have Taken Place in China.” The article analyzed [what it identified as] the current abnormal situation in China, including the following. First, on-going unprecedented large scale military exercises are taking place from July to September (a portion of the exercises will continue until November). Second, a secret meeting was held at the end of July between the former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and China’s current top leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in an effort to improve Sino-Japanese relations. Third, on July 29, a public announcement was made of the investigation of the former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang. Fourth, on July 30, the Central Discipline Inspection Commission of the Chinese Communist Party sent a large investigation team to Shanghai; the team will be stationed in Shanghai until September (the same period of time that the large scale military exercises are taking place). Fifth, Shanghai Bright Food Group Chairman Wang Zong-nan, who has a close relationship with China’s former top leader Jiang Zemin, was taken away for investigation several days ago. Sixth, a large number of civilian flights were canceled in July, especially flights between Beijing and Shanghai. Seventh, in July security checks were enhanced in subways and other transportation areas in Beijing (trash cans have to be emptied every 15 minutes). Eighth, People’s Daily published a commentary article titled, "The Takedown of the Big Tiger Zhou Yongkang Does Not Mean the Anti-Corruption Campaign Has Stopped," which was then removed from its website. Finally, China’s former top leader Jiang Zemin’s inscriptions and signatures are being removed from public places, with online photos being published as evidence of the removal.

All of the above incidents indicate that some kind of coup is taking place between Beijing and Shanghai. The article concluded that the anti-Xi forces may have started the coup but failed when Xi’s forces fought back or that the Xi Jinping group launched a coup to eliminate the Jiang Zemin’s faction.

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 5, 2014
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/chenpokong/js-08052014120319.html

After Zhou Yongkang, the former standing member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Secretary of the Politics and Law Committee was taken down, People’s Forum magazine, which is under one of the top Chinese government official media People’s Daily, published a series of 13 anti-corruption articles one after the other, saying that anti-corruption in China is now “transitioning from surface-oriented to root-oriented.” One of the articles pointed out that corrupt officials would not sit still and wait to be killed. “To protect their own interests, they must put up a last-ditch resistance effort and even unite together to fight back jointly.” This article was reprinted widely in China and a more striking title was used for the reprinted article, “The CCP’s Anti-Corruption – Be Alert for the Big Tigers’ Joint Counterattack.”

Source: BBC Chinese, August 5, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/08/140805_corruption_tiger_fight_back.shtml

Xi Jinping recently made a statement that he is willing to fight corruption even at the cost of his personal life or personal fame. In its August 4th edition, Changbaishan Daily, a local newspaper in Changbaishan City, Jilin Province, made Xi’s statement its headline article.

Xi’s original statement, which was reported to have been given at the new round of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s local inspection tour, was "[We should] fight corruption. [Our] personal lives or deaths and our personal reputations or blame do not matter. Since the Party and the nation have given their future and their fate to us, we need to shoulder this responsibility."

Xi’s speech also mentioned that, currently, the battle between the corruption group and the anti-corruption group has reached a "stalemate." Wang Qishan stated that the anti-corruption situation is "still severe and complicated." He also stressed that the battle is a critical political issue in which officials need to decide which side to take.

Several media in China republished the article. However, in the U.S., as of the morning of August 5, they were no longer available. Searching Xi’s Chinese words "与腐败作斗争，个人生死，个人毁誉，无所谓" on Google resulted in several broken links. The article is no longer viewable on the Changbaishan Daily website either.

Source: Unavailable on web. Chinascope has a copy of the republished article from one website.
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhengzhi/sd-08052014132939.html

The People’s Daily website published a series of pictures with texts under each of them titled, “Charts: The Mysterious Petroleum Billionaire behind Zhou Yongkang.”