[US Trending] Foreign Media: Is the Taiwan Invasion a “Half-Finished Project”? | National Day Incursion at Dongsha, Taiwan Fires Water Cannons | Bo Guagua Suddenly “Patriotic”? | National Day Scenes: Flag Raisings and Overtime | Outside the Chinese Consulate in New York, Almost an “Arrest”? | 15 Years On, Wages Still at 3,000?
The program compiles several news items from the National Day period concerning cross-strait relations, labor, and social life, including the Taiwan Coast Guard's use of water cannons against a mainland fishing boat in the Pratas Islands waters, Bo Guagua's National Day tweet, flag-raising ceremonies and overtime work across various regions, and a projection protest outside the Chinese Consulate in New York. The program also discusses drone management in Beijing, demolition controversies in Hunan, and cites foreign media reports on the progress of the People's Liberation Army's preparations for an invasion of Taiwan, while discussing how the CCP uses traditional holidays to shape political identity.
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Hello viewers, welcome to today's US Hot Search. First, a breaking news report. On October 1st, the mainland's National Day, a Taiwan Coast Guard vessel used water cannons in the waters of the Pratas Islands, injuring personnel on a mainland fishing boat that had crossed the border. According to witnesses, the aggressive confrontation lasted about half an hour; the coast guard personnel fired warning shots and dispatched a small boat to approach the fishing vessel to issue warnings. After the incident, the crew posted a distress message on Chinese social media platforms. Afterward, the vessel, the Jingsha, lost power and waited for rescue on the spot, while the distress message previously posted by the crew on Chinese social media had been deleted. This is one of the largest maritime conflicts between the mainland and Taiwan in recent years.
Bo Guagua, the only son of Bo Xilai, has been living a low-profile life in Canada since his parents fell from power in 2012. However, on October 1st, the mainland's National Day, he posted a tweet on X (Twitter) expressing loyalty to the CCP, which became the biggest trending topic outside the Great Firewall last night. He wrote: Today is National Day. Looking at history, our country is different from Western countries; it embodies the civilization and bloodline of a nation. Especially on this platform, there is much controversy over politics and the system, with various opinions and everyone having their own stance. However, as Chinese people, we must not forget national humiliation. If we are not strong, no matter how well Chinese people do overseas, they will never be able to stand tall. Even the compatriots who oppose China overseas can receive so much support and sympathy from the West precisely because China is strong. I personally hope for a world based on humanity, but that is likely a matter for centuries or millennia from now. For the moment, we have no choice but to operate as nation-states. Regardless of political stance or which side of the strait one is on, deep down, we should all wish for China's prosperity.
I wonder what you all think after hearing this official tweet. Anyway, netizens on Twitter have been having a field day. Teacher Li said that if one wants to stand tall overseas, the first question is how to stand tall in one's own country. If a country's regime does not respect its own people, destroys civil society, bans education on universal values, treats its people as enemies, and suppresses the rights and demands of the people, then the first problem to solve is actually how the authorities in China can respect the Chinese people.
The flag-bearer of the writer-butcher cannot catch him; he lives in a self-fictionalized aristocratic imagination, and his mental world seems to still be in childhood. His 'nanny' was taken out by 'Party Mom,' and this trauma may have forcibly terminated his personality development. Struggling back and forth, does he still follow a child's behavioral pattern to please a more powerful parent? Ancient Chinese people summarized this behavior in four characters: 'recognizing a thief as one's father.' Historically, many abandoned children of officials have had this personality trait.
'Zuoyeben,' who has always been sharp, satirical, and biting in his writing, spoke to him, but the gentleman seems to have forgotten that his surname is no longer Zhao. He deliberately conceals this, pretending to be like Han Xin, though the cause of the scene might not be something the gentleman occasionally forgets—he hasn't been 'not surnamed Zhao' for a long time.
Endorsement: Regardless of political stance, petitioning for China's prosperity is like a concubine in the cold palace murmuring to the moon for the eternal stability of the empire. Li Jiancheng said, 'We are not the same as you. China is your motherland, and Mao Zedong is your ancestor. We were just unfortunately trapped by your motherland. Because you really cannot unite, we all have to rely on our own skills to eat, not on your motherland. Your motherland's wealth and strength have nothing to do with us, and it is not worth us praying for it. If we must pray, then let us pray that the defenders can be seen by others after being teased by netizens, and then post on Twitter to find them.'
Individuals can certainly stand tall in any country; there are many examples of this. But the 'backbone' I speak of is not individual, but ethnic, and this is especially true for the Chinese. Having a Chinese identity without losing one's appearance, surname, or language is backed by a civilization that has not been broken for thousands of years. Musk's Nubian origin can be included in the American identity; the motherland is just a background. In the eyes of others, Chinese people are always linked to China, so the weight of the Chinese community cannot be separated from the weight of China. This is what I mean when I say our country is different from Western countries. Denouncing it from outside the Great Firewall has become a check-in activity for netizens outside the wall on the first day of National Day. Dear viewers, what are your insights on the unofficial response? Please leave a comment in the comment section.
Next, we enter the 'Mobile Phone Watching China' segment. The National Day long holiday began on October 1st. On the night before, a large group of people lined up outside Tiananmen Square waiting for the flag-raising ceremony the next day. Netizens filmed a large number of young people running frantically to grab the best spots. One blogger captioned the video: 'I left at 7 PM to wait for the 6 AM flag-raising. I'm sick, are you?' Netizens pointed out that this scene looked like tanks on the street, with the crowd running wildly—what a piece of performance art. After the flag-raising ceremony, a young man was just being patriotic, saving the past, just as if he had just finished watching the flag-raising. Netizens commented that, in fact, pretending to be stupid like this could really make money before, but it's hard to say now. Now even fools have no money, and those who have money won't limit these things.
The next video is even more magical. A group of people on the subway are loudly being patriotic. Writer Cui Peng, you can love your country, but you cannot use the banner of patriotism to affect public order. These passengers are also too honest; when encountering such a situation, they should report it to the police in time and must not let criminals who deliberately disrupt public order succeed.
On October 1st, netizens filmed multiple monks in robes at the Ruili Buddhist Temple in Yunnan, lining up neatly, facing the national flag, and holding a flag-raising ceremony accompanied by the national anthem. Netizens joked, 'Don't talk about a few monks; in China, even the Buddha has to stand and watch the flag-raising. It's becoming more and more socialist in character.' Hong Kong has been celebrating the CCP during the National Day. In the video, a group of people waved national flags and shouted, 'Long live the great Communist Party, justice will prevail,' and residential buildings were hung with dense five-star red flags. Netizens asked, 'Why does the Cantonese of the people shouting along sound like rural dialect?'
During the National Day, a netizen posted a video on a corresponding platform with a five-star red flag and national emblem background, with the caption: 'If you also love this country, please shout here.' As a result, after the video was broadcast, the bullet comments were simulated to fill the screen, and then the comment section was controlled. Netizens teased, 'I remember the Communist Party once said it had a 96% approval rating.'
On October 1st, the veteran general manager of Zhejiang Qinwang Public Welfare Clothing Co., Ltd. stated in an interview that he has high requirements for workers. If someone steps on the national flag, he will scold them because it is a disrespect and insult to the national flag. However, the comment section backfired. Netizens asked one after another: 'Does this factory have a two-day weekend? Does it have five social insurances? Are there holidays? Is there an eight-hour workday?' This netizen sighed, 'The Chinese state-owned enterprise cannot be trampled upon, but the dignity of employees can be trampled upon at will.'
On September 30, an infrastructure worker for China Energy Engineering Corporation in Xinjiang revealed that they did not get a single day off for National Day, received no overtime pay, and were not given time off in lieu. Recently, on September 30, a netizen posted their personal monthly work hours record, showing a maximum single-day working time of over 18 hours. In the comment section, numerous workers shared their attendance calendars and overtime hours during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, with many workers reaching over 350 monthly work hours. Several netizens also posted photos showing they had worked 13 consecutive days, working 29 out of 30 days in a month, totaling over 300 hours with no days off all year, while complaining about working continuously through the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.
The news that China lacks a two-day weekend system has even attracted the attention of mainstream overseas media. In a report on September 29, Reuters interviewed a 29-year-old tourism industry practitioner named Uncle Aunt Suoshi. Uncle said that during the National Day holiday, he would not travel, order food delivery, or take a taxi, nor would he contribute consumption to such artificially manufactured holidays, because the adjusted days off took away the weekends that rightfully belonged to him. Many people have begun to vote with their consumption.
Jiemu News reported on September 11 that a certain resigned brand posted a notice about a 13-day consecutive break for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. The person in charge stated that the company subsequently received more than 200 orders, more than double the usual amount. The company's employment offer also explicitly stated that overtime is not encouraged, and team-building activities are not held on rest days.
From September 17 onwards, promoting to the US, the Chinese mainland responded to the call to live a tight life by greeting National Day in a frugal manner. Among them, Zhengzhou proposed cleaning and inspecting national flags used in previous years to reuse them, preparing them before National Day for reuse next year. Netizens complained, saying does this mean they used to just throw them away after use, which violates the laws and regulations on the national flag? And they still have the nerve to use this for propaganda. Another netizen said, does the cost of washing the national flag exceed the cost of the flag itself? The leaders are playing a clever hand.
On the evening of September 28, Action China projected a commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the Umbrella Movement outside the Chinese Consulate in New York. As a result, consulate personnel used high-powered flashlights to shine into the faces of the Action China members, pushed and shoved them, chanted
Now let's move on to the foreign media view of China segment. In fact, we once assigned an important mission to the People's Liberation Army (PLA): to acquire the capability to take Taiwan by force by 2020 if necessary. However, the latest assessment from U.S. officials is that this mission may have ended up unfinished. On October 1, Reuters exclusively interviewed two current U.S. officials, one former U.S. official, and one person with knowledge of the matter. They believe that the PLA's preparations have experienced delays, and the likelihood of China taking Taiwan by force before 2028 is increasingly low.
One of the important reasons is precisely the military anti-corruption campaign launched by Xi himself. In recent years, senior PLA officials have been investigated and purged one after another. The Central Military Commission, which originally had seven members, now has only two remaining active members, one of whom is Central Military Commission Chairman Xi himself. U.S. officials stated that these anti-corruption and personnel purges have affected the PLA's combat readiness progress. Last year, the actual military preparations completed by the PLA were likely less than originally planned. However, the General Secretary did not cancel the goal set in 2017. In other words, the order is still there, but the military does not seem to be completing the mission at the original speed.
A U.S. official also revealed that the scale and threat level of China's military exercises last year actually decreased compared to previous years. Although there has been some recovery this year, the U.S. side believes that the PLA is still dissatisfied with its own level of combat readiness. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community publicly gave a similar assessment in March this year: the Chinese side currently has no plans to invade Taiwan in 2017 [Note: reflecting original phrasing], nor does it have a definite timetable for reunification. More crucially, U.S. officials believe that what the PLA lacks right now is not just one or two weapons, but the entire complex combat system, with many links still unprepared.
A U.S. official told Reuters that there are still too many links that have not truly fallen into place, noting that attacking Taiwan could be the most difficult military operation any military has attempted since the Allied landings in Normandy. The U.S. side also believes that China is studying the war in Ukraine and the recent war in Iran, drawing a lesson from them: if a war really breaks out, it must be fought very quickly, and they cannot get bogged down in a protracted war. And that is precisely where the problem lies. U.S. officials believe that the current PLA has not yet proven that it possesses the full capability to complete such a rapid and high-intensity war.
Secondly, the order requiring the PLA to have the capability to take Taiwan by force by 2027 still stands. The problem is that the PLA—whose Central Military Commission has been reduced to only two people due to his own anti-corruption campaign—does not seem fully prepared yet. Everyone is asking, when the PLA is unprepared at that time, who will take the blame?
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has attempted to increase its own legitimacy by borrowing traditional cultures such as China's Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival. However, The Economist analyzed that by doing this, the CCP may ultimately be lifting a rock only to drop it on its own feet. In the early twentieth century, China once regarded the lunar calendar and traditional festivals as symbols of backwardness. After founding the state, the CCP went even further, denouncing a large number of traditional customs as feudal superstition. During the Cultural Revolution, the Spring Festival was even temporarily canceled. But later, the CCP made a 180-degree turn, restoring the Spring Festival in 1980 and officially promoting the revival of traditional festivals, including the Mid-Autumn Festival, in 2005. By the era of Xi, these festivals have been endowed with even stronger political significance.
The Economist stated that by linking traditional festivals with so-called cultural confidence, the subtext is that the CCP not only leads China, but is also the protector of Chinese culture. For example, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, official propaganda frequently emphasizes that everyone lives under the same moon. Traditional festivals can also be used to emphasize the shared culture possessed by both sides of the Taiwan Strait. State media constantly binds the family and the state together, turning traditional festivals into a part of political propaganda.
However, the deeper people understand these traditions, the more obvious another contradiction may become: the conflict between how official regulations dictate people should understand and inherit culture, and how ordinary people truly understand and celebrate these traditions themselves. The CCP wants to revive traditions, yet is unwilling to let traditions develop freely. For example, there are a large number of temples in Zhangzhou, Fujian, but temple expansions must go through complicated approval procedures from religious affairs departments. Buddhist doctrines must conform to the CCP's narrative standards, and Buddhist venues must also fly the national flag or party flag. Some temples even place large propaganda boards in their courtyards specifically praising the achievements of Xi in protecting traditional culture. In other words, even religious and folk traditions dating back hundreds or thousands of years must now first pass through the party's review before deciding how they can be inherited.
And this is where Xi might be shooting himself in the foot. The CCP is now packaging itself as the protector of traditional culture, but many of these traditions have a history far longer than the Chinese Communist Party itself. As more and more Chinese people truly begin to study their own traditions, family lineages, and local cultures, they may discover that these things were not created by the Party, and that the Party even once attacked them as feudal superstitions. Chinese traditional culture is rooted much deeper than the CCP. The Party always wants traditional culture to prove that China cannot do without the Communist Party, but once traditions are truly revived, people may find that the Party has nothing to do with traditional culture, and that traditional culture and festivals might even be better off without the Party.
Next, let's look at a few videos. On September 30, a netizen in Jiangxi filmed a boy on his way to school, placed by his parents in a fully enclosed iron cage on the back of a tricycle, resembling an ancient prisoner transport cart. The boy was gripping the iron bars with both hands, his face full of grievance and helplessness. The netizen lamented, "After leaving prison, there is still a labor camp."
Below, this blogger uses humor to tell Taiwan why it should return to China. How wonderful. A netizen said, he can provide free physical examinations for all of Taiwan, expand China's organ bank, and wait until cadres live to be 120 years old, which will one day become the norm.
At the end of the program, we enter the netizen interaction segment. Saiban commented on the rescue of the Dubai flight, saying that compared to the similar incident that happened to China Eastern Airlines before, the Israelis really possess both wisdom and courage. In an emergency, they were able to save everyone on the plane. In that China Eastern accident, no one stopped it, and even the flight crew had no corresponding handling measures.
Li Min said, facts prove that the same incident, which would be handled by the armed police inside the Great Firewall, can be saved outside the Great Firewall. If it is said that China's air disasters have never given the public, or even the victims' families, an explanation of the actual cause, then China is just a big black box, and the entire system is darker than the mafia.