Beijing’s Secret War Inside the Rocket Force Scandal That Shook Xi’s Inner Circle

Beijing's secret war inside the rocket force scandal that shook Xi's inner circle. Zhang Nanhai and the PLA jointly move to crack down on a target. Major exposure revealed. CCP faces internal chaos as fires and unrest spiral. Out of control in residential areas. CCP tightens control on Halloween. Shanghai falls silent while Wuhan blocks roads. Landlords in Shanghai are rapidly offloading properties overnight as China's housing market crashes. Hainan farmers protested a state firm's tree cutting, tearing down its signboard as police fired warning shots. Beijing's secret war inside the rocket force scandal that shook Xi's inner circle. For a few electrifying hours, Chinese social media cracked open a window into one of the most explosive scandals in Communist Party history. A WeChat account called Feng Xiangguancha briefly posted what appeared to be leaked indictments and verdicts against several of China's highest-ranking generals, including three commanders of the Strategic Missile Force, the elite branch responsible for the nation's nuclear arsenal, and two former defense ministers. Then, just as abruptly, it vanished under the weight of The documents outlined a stunning combination of corruption, espionage, and betrayal at the heart of China's military establishment. They detailed massive procurement fraud, multi-million-dollar bribes, and, most alarmingly, collaboration with U.S. intelligence. Analysts believe the leak was no accident but a weapon in an internal power struggle, shaking Xi Jinping's grip over the armed forces. According to the files, the scandal began under Rocket Force Commander Wang Hongyao. Under his leadership, missile equipment was routinely overpriced. One launcher tire listed at just over $20,000 was billed at more than $52,000. The difference, investigators allege, was funneled through Hong Kong shell companies, amounting to nearly $60 million in fraud. His successor, Zhang Zhenzhong, allegedly pushed corruption to a dangerous new level. He awarded a contract for missile navigation chips to a Beijing firm, secretly funded by U.S. investors. The result? Missile failure rates reportedly tripled. Zhang is accused of taking over $16 million in bribes, buying an $8.5 million Manhattan apartment, and receiving millions more through his wife's Hong Kong accounts. Around the same time, an American congressional report appeared to mirror China's classified missile deployment data with uncanny accuracy, fueling suspicions of espionage at the top. The scandal deepened with the 2023 arrest of Zhou Yaning, another Rocket Force leader, who allegedly hoarded 328 kilograms of gold, premium liquor, and dozens of top-secret strike plans. Zhou reportedly told investigators the gold was held by the U.S. for his grandson's education, a confession that left Beijing's security chiefs reeling. Even more shocking were allegations against former defense ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Xiangfu. Wei, who once led the Rocket Force, is accused of routing missile simulation contracts through offshore fronts linked to Lockheed Martin, and pocketing nearly $40 million in bribes. U.S. investigators reportedly intercepted an audio clip of his son, asking if the software source code could now be sent. Li, meanwhile, was charged with leaking hypersonic missile material bids and moving encrypted hard drives to U.S. contacts, while his son allegedly oversaw Swiss trust receiving billions. What makes the saga extraordinary is its timing. The revelations surfaced just after the Communist Party's fourth plenary session, and days before Beijing announced disciplinary action against nine generals. Experts see this as evidence of factional warfare, likely orchestrated by Xi to purge disloyal commanders and consolidate control amid rising paranoia inside the People's Liberation Army. The post-deletion and the ensuing digital blackout only fueled speculation that China's most secretive institution, the Strategic Missile Force, has been compromised from within. To many observers, this is more than corruption. It is a crisis of trust at the heart of China's deterrent power. Whether the leak was a deliberate act of internal sabotage or an uncontrolled breach, it has sent tremors through Beijing's ruling elite. For Xi Jinping, it offers both danger and opportunity. A chance to root out enemies within his military ranks while reminding China's generals that ultimate loyalty belongs to him alone. In the opaque world of Chinese power politics, the brief flash of truth on a WeChat feed may have exposed the most dangerous battlefield inside the regime itself. Jiang Nanhai and the PLA jointly moved to crack down on a target. Major exposure revealed. Officials from Taiwan's national security agencies said today that, according to an internal government research report, every major election in Taiwan has faced interference from China. However, this is the first time Beijing has directly intervened in the internal power structure of a Taiwanese political party. The level of command involved on the Chinese side is said to be higher and the interference deeper than before, according to the report titled, Information Manipulation in the KMT Chairperson Election. National security officials stated that certain election-related interference occurred during the Kuomintang KMT chairperson election, specifically acts of foreign meddling in Taiwan's democratic processes. Such activities were observed online, particularly on YouTube channels. Some of these channels, which were previously linked to the Chinese People's Liberation Army system and have been under long-term monitoring by Taiwan's security agencies, also took part in the interference this time. A government cybersecurity official said that data for this report was collected up to the morning of October 18, 2025, the day of the KMT chairperson election. The analysis found large numbers of coordinated operations across YouTube and TikTok. Many of the videos were uploaded during working hours and the operators appeared to be simplified Chinese users. During the KMT election period, YouTube saw a flood of AI-generated virtual hosts narrating stories, while TikTok had many accounts simultaneously uploading short videos. Simplified Chinese text appearing in these actor videos suggested the involvement of users from China. The official further explained that although the virtual hosts in the videos appeared different, their narratives followed the same script, generated by AI with slight variations and mass-distributed. The topics covered not only the KMT chairperson election, but also fortune telling, luck-enhancing tips, sensational or risque stories, gossip from the entertainment industry, and even parodies of Taiwan values. When asked whether similar interference occurred during this summer's major recall campaign against KMT legislators, and how it differed from the current chairperson election, national security officials confirmed that Chinese involvement was also detected then. However, they noted a key difference. The command hierarchy behind the interference appeared to be higher this time. Previously, Chinese actors may have outsourced operations to third-party companies, such as internet firms, to conduct information dissemination or cyber operations. But in this case, the level of direct involvement was notably higher. Beyond information warfare, officials said that this time, during the election process, KMT party representatives with voting rights received real phone calls, not AI-generated ones, possibly from mainland Chinese officials or acquaintances, urging them to vote in certain ways. In short, China's election interference extended to organized operations that explicitly told representatives which candidate would be better for cross-strait relations, indicating a much deeper level of intrusion than before. As of now, the Kuomintang has not yet responded to these statements made by the national security officials. CCP faces internal chaos as fires and unrest spiral out of control in residential areas. China's latest wave of civil unrest didn't erupt in factories or on university campuses, but in the heart of middle-class neighborhoods. Across the country, ordinary residents are standing up to local authorities, signaling a quiet but significant shift in how urban Chinese view power and rights. Over the past week, four major protests swept through cities from Hefei to Chongqing and Dongguan to Shaoqing. These weren't scattered outbursts, but organized, disciplined, and often confrontational movements by residents demanding fair treatment and accountability. The issues varied—environmental concerns, property fees, parking, and public spaces—but the pattern was unmistakable. Neighbors uniting against local power. In Hefei, hundreds took to the streets after officials moved a large hardware market next to their community, fearing noise and pollution. In Chongqing, property owners clashed with police over high management fees. Similar confrontations broke out in Guangdong, when village officials seized public squares or banned electric scooters. Videos of these protests spread rapidly across Chinese social media before censors intervened, sparking nationwide attention. These incidents mark an unexpected shift in China's tightly controlled society. For decades, the Communist Party maintained power by atomizing citizens, isolating individuals to prevent collective action. But China's dense urban housing complexes have created a new form of community life. WeChat groups, homeowners committees, and shared grievances now allow residents to mobilize within minutes. What once served as the state's smallest unit of control has become a hub of resistance. According to Freedom House, nearly 4,000 protests erupted across China in the first nine months of this year—a 62 percent jump from 2023. While many past protests involved labor disputes or small-scale petitions, the recent ones are different. They are more organized, more urban, and more politically aware. Middle-class citizens, long viewed as the party's stabilizing force, are beginning to demand accountability. The government's grassroots control system is showing strain. Community leaders, often neighbors themselves, hesitate to act as informants or enforcers. The party's stability maintenance network, once its most trusted mechanism of control, is starting to fracture. For many Chinese, the message is clear. The state will not protect their interests, so they must. As one netizen wrote, when people realize the Communist Party won't solve their problems, they'll solve them themselves. These emerging protests may seem localized, but their implications reach far deeper. The residential compound, once a symbol of order and obedience, is now where citizens rediscover solidarity and shared agency. The party can censor the media and detain activists, but it cannot silence conversations between neighbors. If this trend continues, the spark of civic awareness ignited in these neighborhoods could reshape China's social landscape. When millions of households begin to see clean air, open spaces, and fair governance, not as privileges but as rights, the ground beneath authoritarian control may quietly begin to crack. CCP tightens control on Halloween. Shanghai falls silent while Wuhan blocks roads. On Halloween night on October 31, 2025, the streets of Shanghai were quiet, but the message was loud. For the Chinese regime, a costume is no harmless fun. Authorities treated the Western-style festival as if it were a serious threat, and the atmosphere was unmistakably tense. In Shanghai, the signs were unambiguous. Long rows of police cars stood parked along major roads. Social media users described the mood as noting that unlike previous years when groups of friends would exchange costume ideas ahead of the celebration, this year no one even talks about it anymore, suggesting the expectation that any attempt at dressing up might be blocked or turned into a liability. One commenter observed that near subway exits, officers were reportedly stopping anyone who appeared in odd outfits, while nightly strolls in central neighborhoods were punctuated by passing patrol cars. The implication? The authorities are watching Halloween closely. In Wuhan, meanwhile, local officials effectively shut down the possibility of public Halloween gatherings altogether. On October 30, the city sealed off Liwangpi Road under the pretext of three days of maintenance of underground utilities. That section of road leads to a neighborhood, known colloquially as Bagongfangzi, where last year tens of thousands of residents, including cosplayers dressed as communist cadres, Batman and the Joker, gathered for satire-laden performances. This time, the iron sheets and metal barriers signaled a very different outcome. One frustrated resident captured the mood. How do I go home? This year there is no Halloween. It's all blocked. Even schools joined the campaign. One institution circulated an urgent notice to staff on Halloween Eve, warning that for the evening the political education office, class advisors and dormitory supervisors must crack down. Student celebrations are banned. Increased dormitory patrols will identify and screenshot any WeChat or social media posts related to Halloween, which must be reported and deleted without delay. The crackdown has spurred bitter commentary online. Some netizens lambast the regime's paranoia. Celebrate Halloween and you're unpatriotic. Celebrate Christmas and you're worshiping foreign culture, wrote writer Guicheng Hao. Others were more vulgar, but the sentiment was clear. The leadership appears terrified not of zombies and vampires, but of free minds, costumes, gatherings and satire. One exile activist who took part in the earlier blank paper protests, the so-called White Paper Movement, observed that the authorities are treating Halloween the same way they treated explicitly political gatherings. He argued that China's economic slowdown means the regime could benefit from allowing young people some release. But instead it is shrinking every outlet, turning each calendar date into another sensitive period. The result, he says, is a repression campaign that costs just as much as the ones used to suppress more overt political protest. Why such extreme measures over a party? The answer lies in the symbolic power of Halloween. Costumes, role-playing, satire. In the right hands, these become expressions of dissent. The authorities know it. They see agility. They sense unpredictability. They fear that what begins as harmless dress-up might evolve into gesture, mockery or mobilization. So the usual festive chatter, what will you wear this year, vanished. The streets were lined with unspoken rules. Dormitories were patrolled. Social media posts were deleted. Roads were fenced off. Halloween became a reminder not of spooky fun, but of how tightly the regime monitors not just what people say, but what they wear, who they gather with, what they photograph and how they express themselves. In the end, instead of pumpkins and laughter, what prevailed was caution and compliance. For a festival built on freedom, freedom to play, to scare, to pretend, the message from the authorities in 2025 was crystal clear. You may enjoy nothing. You may gather nothing. You may mock nothing. The costumes that once symbolized comic horror now symbolize the regime's dread of anything unexpected, unapproved or unmonitored. Landlords in Shanghai are rapidly offloading overnight as China's housing market crashes. Shanghai's housing market just hit a chilling milestone. 360,000 second-hand homes listed overnight, a frantic sell-off that signals panic among owners who once bet big on China's priciest city. The numbers tell a brutal story. Listings spiked from September's 380,000, still a record high. Owners are dumping properties at any cost, swallowing lost down payments and years of mortgage payments just to escape. Some haven't even moved into new builds and are already flipping them. In three years, prices have cratered. 30% inside the inner ring, 40% in the middle ring, 50% beyond the outer ring. A 59-square-meter city apartment with renovations fell from $168,000 to $140,500 in months. Suburban projects dangle 5% discounts, free parking, cashback, even zero down payments. Yet sales stall. Luxury penthouses launch to 70% absorption at best. The days of instant sellouts are dead. October offered a fleeting pulse. 11,492 second-hand contracts signed but strip out internal transfers and inheritances, and real deals shrink 20%. New homes logged 4,791 sales, including commercial units, half the 20,000-monthly pace of the prior nine months. Inventory swells, with over 900 projects seeing owners slash prices daily to no avail. Listings near 200,000, 800 added each day. The market shifts not weekly or monthly but by the hour. One day, one price, says a 17-year veteran agent standing before Shanghai's cheapest enclave. 192 square meters with a garden for $41,900, dogs roaming leash-free. Rentals are frozen. The agent still has 600 to 700 empty units, some vacant for four months. Survival means one-month leases, pay-one-get-one, negotiable long-term rates. Becoming a mortgage slave demands a year of social security, stable work, and tens of thousands for the 45% minimum down payment, even in the suburbs. Luxury isn't immune. A near-billion-yuan mansion sold for 40 million, half off peak. Owners who thought prestige shielded them now bleed. Layoffs ripple. A resident told overseas media many can't service loans and face auctions. Few dare buy. Insiders forecast 80% of listings sliding further, only 20% holding steady. National data darkens the picture. September new home prices dropped 0.41% month-on-month, worst in 11 months, down 2.2% year-on-year. Second-hand prices fell 0.64% a yearly low. Third-quarter GDP slowed to 4.8% from 5.2%. Goldman Sachs sees 25-50% plunges in 2026-2027. A 1-million-yuan home may fetch under 500,000. Zhengzhou leads declines, nearly halved from peak to spike growth. Hefei sees 2-3 million homes halved to 1-1.5 million. Shijiazhuang, 14,000-5,000 per square meter. A Xuchang buyer lost over 800,000 after five years of payments on a 1.2-million home, now worth 800,000. Occupancy in some Huaxiu towers, one lit window per building. Another 30% drop in Shanghai could bankrupt the middle class, shutter businesses, trigger mass layoffs, spike divorces, and flood courts with auctions. Rural fallout is already here. Schools close, farmland repossessed, homesteads banned. Lifetimes of savings vanish. A neighborhood bought at 2,192 dollars per square meter now trades at 4,000. The veteran agent isn't gloating. He's seen impulse buyers lose 400,000 to 500,000. His warning, don't rush in. Shanghai's market is entering lie-flat mode. 80% of homes in their final rally before stagnation. The winter isn't thawing, it's deepening. For buyers, investors, and families with everything tied to brick, the message is stark. Caution or collapse. Hainan farmers protested a state firm's tree-cutting, tearing down its signboard as police fired warning shots. A state-owned enterprise in Hainan illegally cut down local farmers' betel nut trees, sparking a mass protest. Local farmers surrounded the company's office building, overturned vehicles, and destroyed the company's signboard. The local police fired warning shots in an attempt to disperse the protesters. Videos circulating online show that the Jiaquan branch of Hainan Rubber Group, Hainan Natural Rubber Industry Group Co., a.k.a. Lixidari, forcibly cut down the betel nut plantations owned by local farmers, triggering large-scale demonstrations. On Oct. 31, 2025, during the day, local farmers piled the felled betel nut trees at the entrance of the company building, demanding an explanation. As more protesters gathered, they blocked the company's main gate and chanted slogans continuously. By evening, the enraged farmers overturned vehicles inside the compound. After the police withdrew, some people climbed up the building and tore down the company's sign. Videos from the scene also show company employees trapped inside the building until they were escorted out by police later that night. The footage shows rows of police officers forming a human wall to block protesters, while riot police used shields and black umbrellas to protect company staff from rocks and debris thrown by protesters during their chaotic retreat. The crowd did not disperse until late at night, leaving the scene in complete disorder. Another video shows that police fired gunshots into the air to intimidate and disperse the farmers. Thank you for watching Secret In China. If you value thoughtful independent journalism, we invite you to subscribe, share your thoughts in the comments and join the conversation. Until next time, stay informed and take care.