Thread by @GuinieZoo_Intel

🧵: A new image (1) of Chinese forces carrying a mace-like club, "the Wolf Fang" has been circulating

Much of the analysis indicates that these are intended for use on the #Indian-#China border - I don't think that's the case. Images 2 & 3 are from '16 & '18 respectively
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Recently, the Chinese government posted a requisition request for 2,600 additional wolf fangs. While it's entirely possible that some of these will make their way to the contested regions in Kashmir, the current evidence points to domestic application
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On 6/15/20 China & India engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan valley leaving at least 20 dead. On 12/9/22, the 2 forces clashed again in the Tawang sector, 1,000 miles to the northwest of Galwan valley
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The India-China '96 treaty "Confidence-Building [...] Along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)" says, "Neither side shall open fire"
This has led to the use of improvised blades & clubs. Both sides had soldiers bludgeoned, thrown off cliffs, or into icy rivers
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Many of the weapons used in the border clashes are improvised, but standardized weapons aren't new in the conflict (1)

But note the badge on the soldier's hat. This is the emblem of the Peoples' Liberation Army, which has been the primary belligerent in the border conflict
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The image currently being circulated is of the People Police, & while they have participated in the border conflict, the picture is clearly from an urban area & includes a soldier with a firearm. My conclusion is that the primary use case for these weapons is domestic
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China has been developing increasingly brutal weapons & tools to control civil unrest. Pic 1 is Xi inspecting police crowd-control tools (some similar to the anti-knife tools used by Japan in pic 2)

There is also the spiked baton in pic 3 - all from 2016 or earlier
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Additional images from 2016 or earlier show Chinese police training with spear-like implements. Clearly, #China is ready to use brutal force on their own citizens, & I think it's a safe bet that many of the new clubs are intended for domestic use
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Xi has removed term limits, faced massive protests against the Zero-COVID policy, & is looking at a demographic cliff

While he has ended the COVID policy, #China has not seen this scale of protests recently. If push comes to shove, we may see a Tiananmen-like crackdown
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Source for many of the images (2016):

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CC: @gujingc @medicsaveu

Thanks for the help