[US Trending] What Did Fengge Film at Majuqiao? | Empty Chairs at the Fifth Plenum: Who’s Next? | DJI Won’t Fix the Vulnerability, So It Arrests the Person Who Found It? | A Doctor Used Doubao AI to Prescribe Medication — Would You Dare Take It?

This episode covers several social and current affairs hotspots: influencer "Feng Ge Wang Ming Tian Ya" (Feng Ge) was visited by the police in Beijing after filming day laborers in Majuqiao; the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CCP Central Committee was held in Beijing, where empty chairs at the venue sparked concerns over purges of the military high command and internal party crackdowns; a controversy erupted after DJI called the police to take away a person who discovered vulnerabilities during a Shanghai geek competition; parents at Shandong Experimental High School delivered food to students through iron fences; a netizen in Gansu tallied their daily tax burden; and a doctor in Jiangsu used Doubao AI to prescribe medication to patients.

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"US Hot Search" lets you hear the voices from outside the Great Firewall. Hello friends, welcome to today's "US Hot Search," I am Qi Xiaotian. First, let's enter the news segment. Recently, Bilibili influencer "Feng Ge Wang Ming Tian Ya" filmed a video in Majuqiao, Beijing, and ended up being visited by the local police station while livestreaming. Majuqiao is one of the largest gathering places for day laborers in Beijing, and Chinese media has reported on it frequently over the past few years. In March of this year, the People’s Daily specifically reported on the standardized renovation of the day labor market, stating that while people used to squat by the roadside waiting for work, they now not only sign employment agreements but are also provided with accident insurance. In May of this year, state media published another article about the day labor market, claiming that day laborers said the market makes it easier to find work and provides security, and now they can take buses directly to factories. If you only look at state media, day laborers are already living a wonderful life. However, in October of this year, Feng Ge went to Majuqiao himself and saw a completely different world, one so different that he felt afraid to post the video.

On October 21, Feng Ge revealed in a livestream that he was afraid to post the video he filmed in Majuqiao. He said: "If I post it, I will be detained." The question is: what exactly is in Majuqiao that could scare someone like Feng Ge, who relies on taking risks to film videos, to this extent? On the morning of October 25, Feng Ge did post the video, but it was a shortened version of about a few minutes. In the video: large groups of day laborers scrambled for work around recruitment vehicles in the early morning; some people, to save a few dozen yuan, had workers hauled away directly in cargo trucks; the cheapest beds for accommodation cost 15 yuan for an upper bunk and 20 yuan for a lower bunk, with some beds located right next to sewage, forming a sharp contrast with the state media narrative. After the video was posted, it quickly went viral. By the evening of October 26, when Lianhe Zaobao reported on it, the view count on Bilibili had already exceeded 2 million, with over 150,000 likes. But Feng Ge was clearly still uneasy. Later, he stated in a livestream that a more complete, extended version would likely not be made public, and he hoped to first "reflect the situation to the relevant departments." He also specifically emphasized that he did not want this video to be moved to overseas websites. But the matter did not end there.

On the afternoon of October 25, the day the video was released, a second plot twist occurred. According to a leaked live-stream recording, police from the local police station came knocking while Feng Ge was live-streaming. Feng Ge's previous live streams were dug up again, and this time, his words were even clearer. He said, "We cannot do anything that harms the country," and in the end, he even stated that he would try not to come to Beijing to shoot such things in the future. News that "Feng Ge was taken away" and "Feng Ge was detained" quickly began circulating online. As of now, we can only confirm that on the afternoon of October 25, police station personnel did indeed visit him, and shortly after, Feng Ge's live stream was cut off. As to why the police visited and what was discussed, there is currently no public information. We also conducted a poll in the comment section of Feng Ge's documentary; among about 13,000 comments on Bilibili, about 54% said they were touched, but about 27% felt it was nothing special and quite normal. What is truly unsettling is perhaps not how rare this is, but precisely that this kind of life is not rare at all. Every city has its own Majuqiao and urban villages. Netizens complained, "You get a visit just for shooting a day-labor experience, and you get cut off just like that. Ordinary people aren't even allowed to talk about their days of working odd jobs; that is the most absurd part of all.

The CCP Fifth Plenary Session usually discusses China's economic and social development plans for the next five years, but at this year's Fifth Plenary Session, many high-ranking CCP officials are probably less worried about how the country will develop over the next five years and more worried about whether they will still be able to keep their official hats next year. On October 26, the 20th CCP Central Committee Fifth Plenary Session opened in Beijing for a four-day run. BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonnell noted that the focus of this year's conference is not economic development planning, but further strengthening intra-party discipline and demanding that officials more strictly obey the central leadership. This is also an important opportunity for Xi Jinping to further consolidate his power before the 2027 CCP congress. The report stated that officials attending this conference this year may notice a particularly obvious change: there are quite a few empty chairs in the conference hall. Because over the past few years, General Secretary Xi has continuously purged high-ranking party officials, especially military generals. According to estimates by the Asia Society Policy Institute, of the 44 official military members who entered the Central Committee in 2022, only two have not been purged or disappeared. The Central General Military Commission, originally consisting of seven members, now only has the General Secretary himself and one other military commander. This meeting may be used to rearrange the high-level military personnel. And these empty seats also made other officials see a reality: having entered the highest power circle of the CCP does not mean one's own position is safe.

Even more noteworthy is that Xi Jinping recently publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with party officials. On October 15, Qiushi published the General Secretary's speech at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection meeting in January this year. He criticized some cadres for talking about political loyalty on the surface while actually engaging in double-dealing. Others "rush toward wherever there are profits and are ready to 'jump' at any time," accusing some cadres of using his thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era "only when it suits them and discarding it when it does not." He demanded that during local leadership transitions, these so-called "two-faced people" be identified and cleaned out, not letting them slip through. The BBC pointed out that apart from corruption, so-called "moral corruption" may also become a reason for purging officials. Some experts believe this phrasing can be used to deal with cadres deemed insufficiently loyal to the General Secretary. In other words, officials not only cannot take bribes, but must also prove their absolute political reliability. But the problem is, since the power held by General Secretary Xi is already so concentrated, why must discipline be continuously strengthened? The Asia Society Policy Institute analyzed that although Xi Jinping can determine central policies, he cannot necessarily make officials at all levels nationwide execute them according to his will. He criticized local officials for engaging in formalism, pursuing superficial political achievements, and even pretending to execute central orders. For example, when some localities see others developing chips and electric vehicles, they rush to launch the same projects, resulting in repeated investments. However, researchers pointed out that this phenomenon is also related to the political system built by Xi Jinping. Local officials must complete an increasing number of central tasks while facing financial strain and severe accountability. Consequently, many would rather engage in showy vanity projects than bear the risks of reform, and even the movement against formalism can turn into more meetings, reports, and inspections. Some grassroots cadres sarcastically remarked that we are now using formalism to oppose formalism.

And the General Secretary is clearly prepared to continue increasing the pressure. According to statistics from the Asia Society, the number of officials formally disciplined for formalism and bureaucracy increased from approximately 46,000 in 2023 to 118,000 in 2025. In the first eight months of this year, the number of such disciplinary actions grew by 16% compared to the same period last year. Reuters reported that the document proposed by the General Secretary at this Fifth Plenary Session focuses on comprehensive strict party governance, demanding that central decisions must not remain mere rhetoric but must be truly implemented. The CCP officially believes that continuous anti-corruption efforts and strengthened discipline can improve governance capabilities and make the government more efficient. However, analysts also worry that increasingly severe political accountability may make officials more afraid of making mistakes, and instead, they may become afraid to take the initiative to solve problems. Next year, the CCP will hold its 21st National Congress, and Xi Jinping is widely expected to continue serving as General Secretary, entering his fourth term. Kerry B, a China expert at King's College London, told Reuters that this meeting might not only discuss specific policies but also demonstrate to the outside world that General Secretary Xi still firmly holds power. For party officials, the signal conveyed by the meeting is equally clear: future requirements for political loyalty and discipline will only become stricter.

On one hand, Xi Jinping complains that local officials lack a sense of responsibility and only engage in formalism; on the other hand, he constantly strengthens political vetting and accountability. If officials do not execute central orders, they may lose their positions. But if problems arise during execution, they may also be held accountable. Therefore, for many officials, this year's Fifth Plenary Session is likely not an opportunity to study future development, but another round of political exams. The General Secretary hopes that officials will be both absolutely obedient and proactively responsible; they must neither make mistakes nor fail to achieve results. The problem is, when keeping one's position becomes the top priority, how many people are still willing to take risks to solve real problems? Now, let's move to the "Mobile Phone Watching China" segment. On October 24, the GEEKCON security geek competition was underway in Shanghai, but DJI called the police, citing "illegal hacking instruction." Participants and judges were taken away directly from the scene, and the event was temporarily suspended. The chairman of the organizing committee scolded the relevant DJI personnel on the spot, saying, "I've been doing this for so many years, and I've never seen someone as fucking stupid as you." Netizens criticized: "The competition would never disclose vulnerability details publicly, and it didn't even name the device manufacturer that was cracked. As a result, instead of solving the problem itself, the company solved the person who discovered the problem. This has become a 'best practice' for many Chinese companies; it's truly pathetic."

This incident reminds me of another piece of news from a few months ago. In February of this year, a French DIY enthusiast, S, wanted to control a DJI Romo robot vacuum with a PS5 controller, but unexpectedly triggered a serious security vulnerability. By just using the private token from his own device, he could actually access approximately 6,700 robots of the same model worldwide, viewing real-time camera feeds, home floor plans, and locating the devices. When interviewed by reporters, he scanned data from 13 countries in minutes. DJI later stated that they had discovered this vulnerability internally in late January and applied patches in two batches on February 8 and 10. Note that this vulnerability was discovered by a foreigner and exposed through the media. DJI's reaction was "hurry up and fix it," but when facing domestic people, the attitude changed to "if you dare to find my vulnerabilities, I will call the police and arrest you." When security vulnerabilities are discovered in Western companies, there is usually a bug bounty program; Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla are all doing this. The hacker community and companies have a cooperative relationship, working together to make systems more secure. In China, when a vulnerability is discovered, the company's first reaction is to call the police and arrest people. Companies that do not solve problems but only solve the people who raise them—this approach will only make their products more fragile in the long run.

On October 24, netizens captured parents at the Shandong Experimental High School delivering food to students inside the school through an iron fence. The video shows students eating inside the fence while parents sit outside to accompany them, and there appear to be electric fence facilities installed above the fence. Netizens said: "The school doesn't allow children to leave the premises to eat, to clear themselves of responsibility. But parents know deep down that in this country, food safety is a joke, so they deliver food even across a wall." Taxpayers have paid taxes and should have the right to know where the government spends the money, and also have the right to supervise the government. Recently, a netizen in Gansu released a video titled "Who Isn't a Good Taxpaying Citizen?" which listed one by one the various tax burdens that Chinese people bear in their daily lives. From daily necessities, water, electricity, and transportation, to buying houses and cars, the prices of goods and services often include various taxes and fees. Even if you haven't reached the threshold for individual income tax, it doesn't mean you haven't paid taxes. In other words, as long as you live and consume in China, you are constantly bearing tax burdens indirectly. The problem is, since everyone is contributing to government finance, shouldn't taxpayers also have the right to know where this money is actually being spent?

They would say, if you are patriotic, drive domestic cars, if you are patriotic, use domestic A. However, their patriotism goes so far as to let AI prescribe medicine for them. On June 25, in Jiangsu, a netizen visiting the Xuzhou No. 2 People's Hospital discovered that a doctor directly used Doubao AI to prescribe medication for patients. Ever since they started using Doubao, the misdiagnosis rate has surprisingly decreased. There are two reasons: first, Doubao is indeed better at diagnosing illnesses than the doctor, and second, those who followed Doubao's advice died the very same day and didn't have time to complain about a misdiagnosis. Cultural confidence in other countries is "tolerance and respect for diversity"; cultural confidence in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is about belittling the cultures of other countries. This father forwarded a video of his child praising Chinese food by belittling dishes from other countries. A netizen asked: Eating tech-heavy fake food, where on earth do they get such confidence? At the end of the show, we enter the netizen interaction segment. Commenting on Xu Xiaodong confronting state security (MSS), someone said that this following police officer didn't dare to act cocky because he knew he couldn't beat Xu Xiaodong in a fight; if it were an ordinary person, they would have started cursing long ago. Ma Yuan said: For state security personnel, calling the police is useless, they are all family. Commenting on China entering a period similar to "Japan's lost decade," someone said: If it really becomes the next Japan, that would actually be a sweet dream; China's future would be lucky to even have Japan's so-called lost decade. It is entirely about comparison, today's America. That is all for today, thank you everyone for watching. New viewers and friends, if you like our show, please help by liking and subscribing, and help us spread these voices from outside the Great Firewall further. In addition, friends who want to further support our channel can consider joining the membership of US-China Benchmarking. Until next time, see you then.