[US Hot Search] Breaking News: Guangxi Hengzhou Reservoir Breach | "Roaring Man" Speaks English in Malaysia to Protect Flag | Floods Across China | Multiple Angles of Inner Mongolia On-Site Videos | Messi Blocked in World Cup | China's Enlightenment in the World Cup | Xi Jinping Copying Homework | Personnel Changes Manager for the 21st National Congress

This episode covers multiple current events: Liulan Reservoir and Yunbiao Reservoir in Hengzhou City, Guangxi, breached and collapsed due to heavy rainfall, destroying downstream villages; China's national table tennis team failed to reach the quarterfinals in the men's singles at the US Grand Slam; a vehicle collision and explosion involving ammonium nitrate occurred on National Highway 331 in Inner Mongolia, causing casualties; foreign media are focusing on Xi Jinping's governance model and Cai Qi's personnel arrangements before the 21st Party Congress; additionally, reports cover Messi facing cultural and entertainment censorship, the absurd phenomenon of youth education in China, and netizens' comments on hot social issues.

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American Hot Search brings you voices from outside the Great Firewall. Hello, viewers, and welcome to today's American Hot Search. I'm Qi Xiaotian. This past weekend was the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, a long weekend. I wish our viewers in the US a happy holiday, and also send greetings to friends in other parts of the world. On July 4th, the US Independence Day, the most "internationally-minded" party media, Reference News, ran a front-page story stating: "Pessimism Engulfs US Independence Day." Below, we will use scenes from Independence Day celebrations across the US to let you feel the "pessimism engulfing America," just as netizens often say: you can't even trust the punctuation marks in party media. Now, let's move on to the China Mobile segment.

In 1975, during the Cultural Revolution, Henan experienced a dam collapse disaster, resulting in approximately 170,000 deaths and affecting 10 million people. It is considered one of the most severe disasters in modern Chinese history, combining human and natural factors. On July 6, 2026, this tragedy was repeated in Guangxi. Affected by continuous heavy rainfall on July 5, a flood disaster occurred in Lingshan County, Qinzhou City, Guangxi. Many local roads were submerged by floods, and some areas experienced severe waterlogging. In the early morning of July 6, 7 kilometers from Lihejiang towards Jiulong Town in Qinzhou, Guangxi, the road surface was washed away by the floodwaters. During the day on July 6, the Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou City, Nanning, Guangxi, collapsed. Netizens who shared videos commented: "Look at the materials used for the dam, are they very sturdy?" Disaster victims in Guangxi filmed the disaster downstream of the dam collapse; videos showed that entire villages downstream were washed away. Netizens filmed that rescue operations were underway in Hengzhou using kayaks and drones. On July 6, the Emergency Management Committee of Nanning City, Guangxi, issued a situation report in the afternoon stating that the Liulan Reservoir and Yunbiao Reservoir had breached, and downstream villages and residential areas of the Liulan Reservoir were densely populated. The Liuwang Reservoir experienced overtopping. Netizens said: "Dams were built, but due to shoddy materials and poor quality, a greater disaster occurred. Under this system, this is a predetermined outcome." After the Liulan Reservoir dam collapse, netizens dug up a notice from the Nanning Water Resources Bureau in 2022. The notice showed that as of the end of 2021, 65 completed water conservancy projects in Nanning had not undergone the required engineering quality acceptance and verification, and were officially criticized. The list included: "Hengxian Liulan Reservoir Desilting and Reinforcement Project Sections 1 and 2." Netizens angrily said: "This is man-made disaster! The problems from 4 years ago were not resolved, leading to the Liulan Reservoir dam collapse now. These casualties could have been avoided." Another netizen said: "No matter what the situation is now or how it was in the past, afterwards 'they' will definitely turn a funeral into a celebration, clock in, take photos, and hold commendation meetings."

In 2024, when Messi came to China to play, he did not play due to injury, but he later appeared in a match in Japan, and was accused by

Next, we move to the segment on China as seen by foreign media. Xi Jinping calls his ruling period the new era. However, a report by The Wall Street Journal says that Xi Jinping's new era is old wine in a new bottle, and his governance seems to be copying the assignments of Stalin and Mao Zedong, almost to the punctuation marks. The report points out: Xi Jinping is increasingly adopting ruling methods similar to those of Stalin and Mao Zedong, consolidating personal power and paving the way for permanent rule through continuous purges, personality cult, and absolute loyalty. The 73-year-old Xi Jinping has now entered his 14th year in power; he has not only abolished the term limits for the state president but also broken many power checks and balances established by the CCP after Mao Zedong. He is expected to continue as General Secretary of the CCP in 2027. Since embarking on his third term in 2022, Xi Jinping has further intensified purges, taking down three incumbent Politburo members in just six months, the largest scale of purges since 1976. Many government ministers, military generals, high-ranking local officials, financial regulators, and heads of state-owned enterprises have been investigated one after another. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping has revived practices from the Mao era, requiring Politburo members to conduct criticism and self-criticism annually, and making personal loyalty to Xi Jinping an important assessment criterion. This high-pressure rule is creating a culture of fear, where officials are increasingly afraid to express dissenting opinions, leading to more arbitrary policy-making and making errors harder to correct. As Xi Jinping has consistently failed to cultivate a clear successor, instead handing over power to a group of confidants in their sixties and seventies, there are concerns that once the highest power changes, the CCP may repeat the power struggles that occurred after the deaths of Stalin and Mao Zedong. Xi Jinping has further tightened decision-making power over major policies, reducing the adoption of opinions from local officials, retired cadres, and external experts on core economic policies such as the "Five-Year Plan." Statistics from the Asia Society Policy Institute show that the number of suggestions adopted in the new Five-Year Plan has significantly decreased, also leading Beijing to be slow in addressing economic problems such as insufficient consumption and deflation. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping has continuously strengthened the party's disciplinary system, significantly increasing the number of internal party regulations and granting greater power to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Official data shows that nearly one million party members were disciplined last year alone, a record high. The CCP also requires party members to systematically study "Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era"; propaganda agencies have once again extensively used titles such as "People's Leader" to strengthen the cult of personality. Joseph Stiglitz, a historian at an American university, said: "The more successful you are, the more your enemies fear you and try to destroy you, so you need to keep purging. Without so-called balance, enemies will keep appearing." History has repeatedly proven that the greatest enemy of dictatorship is often not external opponents, but the fear it creates. When everyone only dares to express loyalty and not speak the truth, the result is not the best policies, but the loudest applause and the most expensive price."

As the window for personnel changes at the 21st National Congress opens, a report by renowned China correspondent for The New York Times, Chris Buckley, published on July 5th, states that as Xi Jinping prepares to move towards a fourth term, Cai Qi is becoming the most crucial executor for Xi in selecting the next generation of CCP high-ranking cadres and maintaining his long-term rule. The article says: The 70-year-old Cai Qi is now not only Xi Jinping's "chief butler" but also concurrently serves as Director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee and Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee. This year, Xi Jinping appointed him as the President of the Central Party School and responsible for a new round of intra-party discipline and loyalty education. This implies that Cai Qi will likely be involved in cadre evaluation and political vetting before and after the 21st National Congress. Julian Gewirtz, former Senior Director for China Affairs at the White House National Security Council, believes that among the CCP's top leadership, "the ability to speak for Xi Jinping" is the scarcest political resource, and Cai Qi possesses this special status. He may even become one of the few people who can submit cadre evaluation reports to Xi Jinping. Cai Qi was known for his open style during his early years in Fujian and Zhejiang. He wrote travel diaries after visiting Taiwan and opened a Weibo account to respond to public demands. He once publicly wrote: "Openness is a good thing, and self-discipline alone is not enough to govern a political party." However, after being transferred to Beijing, he closed his Weibo account, participated in the establishment of the Central National Security Commission, and quickly transformed into the most steadfast executor of Xi Jinping's line. During his tenure as Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee in 2017, Cai Qi pushed for a large-scale clearance of migrant workers, demanding that grassroots cadres "dare to confront head-on." This tough stance caused significant controversy and became a representative event of his political style. Xi Jinping's biggest challenge currently is not finding a successor, but replenishing the new generation of cadres without designating a successor. According to age conventions, about two-thirds of the members of the Central Committee will retire when the 21st National Congress convenes. Meanwhile, the downfall of several senior generals personally promoted by Xi Jinping in recent years has made him more cautious in personnel selection. Deng Yuwen, former editor of "Xuexi Shibao" (Study Times), analyzes: Even if Cai Qi relinquishes some positions due to age in the future, he may continue to serve as President of the Central Party School, long-term acting as Xi Jinping's "eyes and ears" to evaluate and screen cadres and observe the entire cadre team. The focus of this report is not on Cai Qi personally, but on Xi Jinping's personnel arrangements for his fourth term. Buckley believes that in the future, the primary criterion for promotion of CCP cadres will increasingly not be ability, but absolute loyalty to Xi Jinping personally.

Now let's look at a few absurd videos. Youth is the future of a country. Let's see what kind of youth the CCP has educated in China. On July 1st, a teenager in Guizhou was required to carry a specially made "cement brick schoolbag," kneel on the cement ground, and kowtow to his parents while crying. Netizens said: When Xi Jinping fled back to Beijing from Liangjiahe back then, he also knelt before Qi Xin in the same way, and then Qi Xin drove him back to Liangjiahe. Below, let's compare it with Chinese children educated in the United States. A blogger in the US asks his 9-year-old son what he thinks of the phrase "unifying thought." Netizens said: Unifying thought means telling you to obey orders and commands, regardless of whether you are smart or stupid.

At the end of the program, we enter the audience interaction segment. Thomas Freedom commented on the CITIC Tower incident, saying: In China, any incident that leads to issues between men and women can generally be identified as a political incident. dlfang said: Jinggangshan calls robbery a fine, calls the powerful and privileged economy a market economy with Chinese characteristics, calls dictatorship a popular election, and calls violent threats public security... If this is not a gang, what is it? Ma Dadan said: Chinese people! Remember! The fate of the victims today will be the fate of the onlookers tomorrow! That's all for today's US hot searches. Thank you for watching.

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