The annual meetings of the Chinese Communist Party, known as the Two Sessions, concluded on March 12, 2026. It has been ten days since then, with the party leader Xi Jinping not following the tradition of leaving Beijing for inspection in mid-March. Since mid-November 2025, Xi has stayed in Beijing for over four months without any trips.
Public reports indicate that following Xi Jinping’s inspection in Guangzhou on November 7 and 8, from November 9, 2025, to March 21, 2026, he has not left Beijing for 133 days, nor has he conducted any overseas visits.
After the closure of the Two Sessions in March 2025, Xi Jinping left Beijing on March 17 and 18 to inspect Guizhou, then on March 19 and 20, he visited Yunnan.
In March 2024, after the Two Sessions ended, Xi Jinping left Beijing from March 18 to 21 for a four-day inspection trip to Hunan.
In March 2023, the Fourteenth National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party concluded, where Xi Jinping was re-elected as the President of the country and the Chairman of the National Military Commission. Following this, Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Russia from March 20 to 22, 2023.
However, after the conclusion of the Two Sessions on March 12, 2026, Xi Jinping did not follow the usual practice of leaving Beijing for inspection in mid-March, and there has been no official disclosure of his travel plans for 2026.
Even before the Chinese New Year, Xi Jinping did not visit local areas or military units as per tradition. On February 10, 2026, he only conveyed his regards to the military via video, and notably requested all military units to “maintain the prescribed state of readiness”.
Various interpretations emerged at that time, speculating that Xi Jinping, following the incidents involving Zhang Yuxia and Liu Zhenli, might be concerned about potential assassination attempts or a coup, leading to his reluctance to leave Beijing.
In a social media post on February 12, 2026, political commentator Cai Shenkun expressed that by breaking the tradition of visiting grassroots troops before the Lunar New Year and staying confined within the heavily guarded Building 81, Xi Jinping symbolically “comforts” the troops through video calls. In light of the incidents involving Zhang Yuxia and Liu Zhenli, Xi Jinping’s fear was evident, to the extent that he didn’t dare to make appearances before the troops before the New Year, instead resorting to virtual interactions for self-preservation.
Former Inner Mongolia official Du Wen, residing overseas, revealed in his media program that after the arrest of Zhang Yuxia, the forces behind the scenes were preparing for a decisive move, with some within the military waiting for Xi to leave Beijing. Naturally, Xi Jinping would be cautious about leaving under such circumstances.
Vice Chairman of the Chinese Military Commission, Zhang Yuxia, and Commission member Liu Zhenli were rumored to have been absent since the opening ceremony of a high-level official seminar of the Chinese Communist Party on January 20, 2026, and subsequently faced continuous speculation and were officially announced to have been ousted on January 24.
On January 26, 2026, political analyst Liu Junning exposed on a certain platform that an internal announcement within the Chinese Military Commission declared a state of martial law in the military, with all forces ordered to stand by and not allowed to be mobilized. The post also hinted at an impending turmoil, urging everyone to be prepared for any situation.
Insiders had previously disclosed to a media outlet that the handling of Zhang Yuxia and Liu Zhenli had caused significant ripples within the military. Several mid to high-ranking military officials were abruptly asked to cancel their vacations, halt their scheduled trips, and were instructed to “stand by”. Simultaneously, there was an increase in tightening command structures, propaganda systems, and political stances within the military, creating an atmosphere of heightened tension.