Zhongnanhai Disappears: Xi Can't Hide from It Even in a Hole

Beijing's Underground. (Video Screenshot)

[People News] The recent actions taken by the United States against Venezuelan President Maduro, including his arrest, have garnered significant attention from the international community. In China, an unexpected incident has revealed that high-ranking officials in Zhongnanhai are feeling a chill regarding the efficiency of the U.S. military's 'decapitation' operations. Their first and most overt method of self-preservation has been to block access to the Zhongnanhai map. Some have ridiculed this ostrich strategy as being quite shocking.

Recently, Chinese netizens discovered that the three major mapping applications in China—Amap, Baidu Maps, and Tencent Maps—can no longer search for the keyword 'Zhongnanhai.' Screenshots show that when 'Zhongnanhai' is searched, the system returns an error message and suggests searching for other locations instead. This change has sparked discussions online, with many netizens linking it to the U.S. military's rapid decapitation operation in Venezuela, which has left officials in Zhongnanhai feeling terrified.

Speculation has arisen that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may be worried that the recent arrest of Nicolás Maduro by the United States could have repercussions for CCP leader Xi Jinping and other senior officials. Consequently, the CCP has removed the location of its top leadership base, Zhongnanhai, from mapping applications. Zhongnanhai serves as the central hub of power for both the CCP and the Chinese government, housing several key institutions. It is also where senior CCP leaders and high-ranking officials, along with their spouses and families, reside. However, netizens have mocked this action, suggesting that since the U.S. military's operations do not depend on Chinese-made mapping applications, the removal from the map is merely a case of 'a thief crying stop thief.' Some netizens have questioned, 'Are they afraid of the public? Who in Beijing doesn't know where Zhongnanhai is?' 

Netizens have joked that Xi Jinping must have been so frightened that he wet his pants. (Screenshot from X) 

Moreover, some netizens have speculated that in order to protect himself, Xi Jinping might be sleeping in underground tunnels every night. 

It is rumoured that the underground tunnels in Beijing have a complex structure reminiscent of rat tunnels, which were utilised by large numbers of people during the sensitive periods of the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square protests. These tunnels were also used for the escape of high-ranking CCP officials. 

According to a 2020 report by 'Look China,' there are three secret escape routes from Zhongnanhai. The first is a secret passage leading from Zhongnanhai to the Air Force base in Xishan. To the west of Zhongnanhai in Beijing lies another hidden power centre of the CCP, Yuyuantan. Officially, this area is designated as a resting place for various leaders, but in reality, it serves as a gathering point for high-ranking officials seeking to escape. Inside Yuyuantan, there are military fortifications, and a secret passage leads directly to Zhongnanhai. This passage is well-lit and extends over 20 kilometres, providing a means of escape in case of emergencies.

The second secret passage leads from Zhongnanhai to the Great Hall of the People, and then to Beijing International Airport, although specific details remain unclear.

There is also a third passage that is less known and even more mysterious, which is a secret route to the Beijing Daxing International Airport that only began operations in September of last year. This significant project was personally promoted and overseen by Xi Jinping, indicating it likely serves secret purposes.

Some have mockingly suggested that officials who propose erasing Zhongnanhai from electronic maps may not even be as competent as a village party secretary.

The U.S. Air Force B-2 bomber has tested the deployment of the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP, designated GBU-57A/B). (Reproduced from the U.S. Air Force website)

In reality, the Venezuelan military has spent vast amounts over the years acquiring military equipment from the Chinese Communist Party, misled by the CCP's false propaganda into believing that its military equipment has comprehensive combat capabilities from space to underwater, making it the 'most modern' defence system in South America. However, unexpectedly, on January 3, the U.S. military took less than three hours to swiftly incapacitate and dismantle the CCP's radar defense systems, capturing the Maduro couple alive in their bedroom. This rapid operation serves as a wake-up call to the CCP and reveals a crucial fact: while the PLA's so-called 'great national weapons' may appear impressive, there is a significant gap between their claims of being 'able to fight' and 'able to win' once they are removed from the scripted exercises. Can Xi Jinping truly rely on these weapons to protect Zhongnanhai?

Additionally, the U.S. military has the GBU-57 massive bunker buster, which can penetrate 60 feet (18 meters) of 5,000-pound (35 MPa) reinforced concrete, 8 feet (2.4 meters) of 10,000-pound (69 MPa) reinforced concrete, and 40 feet (12 meters) of medium-hard rock, all with an accuracy of within 1.2 meters. This weapon can also be deployed in a series of sequential detonations to enhance the depth of the attack, making it extremely powerful. Even if high-ranking officials of the Chinese Communist Party take refuge in the tunnels of Zhongnanhai, they would still be unable to escape the threat posed by this massive bunker buster. △