[US Hot Search] The US Prepares Contingency Plans for the Brittle Collapse of the Chinese Communist Party | Minjiang River Drains, Dujiangyan in Danger? | New Exit-Entry Regulations Implemented, Reports from International Flights | US Destroys Chinese Satellite? | Two-Day Weekends Didn't Arrive, "Two-Day Weekend Shopping" Disappears First | Hundreds of Miners Collectively Demand Unpaid Wages | Withdrawing Your Own Money Requires Calling the Police?
The program first discusses the issue of Chinese remote sensing satellites allegedly providing images of a U.S. military base in Jordan to Iran, the disintegration of the satellite, and the U.S. disclosure of space weapons. It then summarizes news regarding a landslide in Maoxian, Sichuan, new entry and exit regulations, passport confiscation, the eviction of street vendors, miners demanding unpaid wages, and unemployment. The program also focuses on phenomena such as university military training, the lack of ladders in dormitories, the fight for two-day weekends, domestic mobile phone advertisements, and elderly people's phones automatically installing applications. It also cites an article analyzing the potential issues of nuclear weapons, the military, assets, and political transition that the CCP regime might face if it were to suddenly collapse.
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Life in America lets you hear the voices from outside the Great Firewall. Hello, viewers, welcome to today's "America Week," I am Xiaotian.
On September 13, the account "Mario Naw," the largest live show on the X (Twitter) platform with nearly 3.9 million followers, posted a message linking the Yaogan-50 group 02 satellite of China to the Iranian attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan, questioning whether the U.S. might have carried out a space retaliation. This Chinese military reconnaissance satellite was launched in March this year. Mario Naw wrote that a Chinese entity had provided high-resolution satellite imagery of the base to Iran before the attack in July, which resulted in the deaths of three U.S. soldiers. About six weeks later, the Yaogan-52 group 02 satellite, used for reconnaissance of military targets, disintegrated in orbit, producing 13 fragments, the cause of which remains unknown. Mario Naw asked: Did the U.S. shoot it down?
Space tracking expert Jonathan McDowell first disclosed the situation of the fragments and denied that it was shot down by humans, believing it was more likely caused by battery combustion or debris collision. On September 14, the U.S. Secretary of the Air Force publicly admitted that the U.S. military has deployed on-orbit space control weapons. The coincidence in the timeline has led to speculation online about a retaliatory strike, but there is currently no direct evidence. In today's foreign media China segment, we will analyze whether a space war between China and the U.S. has already begun.
At 8:40 a.m. on September 16, a landslide occurred at a stone dam in Maoxian, Aba, Sichuan, with soil and rocks blocking National Highway 213 and the Minjiang cableway. On-site videos and photos show a large amount of soil and rocks rushing into the riverbed, causing significant damage to the river channel. Some netizens claimed that signs of lateral sliding have formed at the scene, suggesting that further landslides might occur and that a re-examination will be needed in a few days. As a rumored high-speed tunnel is under construction near the site, the specific impact and whether there are any casualties are not yet clear.
There is a danger of the Minjiang River flow being cut off; if the interruption lasts too long, it could affect the upstream Zipingpu Reservoir, thereby threatening Dujiangyan. This hazard point has experienced multiple small-scale landslides since August. Emergency response measures have been initiated, implementing two-way closure of the national highway and guiding traffic to detour. Geological experts are currently assessing the stability of the mountain and the condition of the river channel. Passing vehicles need to pay attention to traffic information and choose their routes reasonably.
September 15 marked the first day of the implementation of China's new exit-entry regulations. A netizen shared the changes in exit-entry inspections on that day compared to previous practices, noting that detailed inquiries regarding the reasons for travel and itineraries had been added. She said she felt somewhat nervous during her inspection, but it was indeed different from before as the staff asked what she was going to do, how long she would stay, and how much money she was carrying. The passenger ahead of her directly replied that they were going to Australia for studies and was cleared very quickly; she stated that she was going for tourism.
Before the implementation of the new regulations, another netizen had a completely different experience. He purchased a flight ticket from Guangzhou to Vietnam for September 12 and was still turned back and denied exit despite having all documents in complete order. He said that he had the money to go to Vietnam, bought the ticket, and had his passport, yet he was turned back at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and asked if there were any other ways to leave the country.
Some Chinese citizens cannot even hold their own passports freely. On September 15, the day the new regulations took effect, a netizen shared that a certain work unit required all internal and external personnel holding passports or Hong Kong-Macao passes to hand them over to the personnel department for record-keeping and registration. Netizens in the comment section stated that their units had similar situations, not only collecting documents but also irregularly checking exit-entry records.
A netizen said that due to restrictions by her work unit, she could not freely travel abroad, so she decided to resign, but her unit stipulated that she could not voluntarily resign within 5 years and could only leave by being dismissed. After gaining the understanding of her leadership, she began skipping work. After 15 days, the unit initiated relevant procedures, and after the entire process took about 3 months, she finally got her passport back. The netizen said that after September 15, successfully traveling abroad is no longer just a matter of having a passport.
The Financial Times reported on September 15 that China is tightening control over state secrets, advanced technologies, and highly skilled talent, and exit-entry restrictions are severely affecting technology executives and researchers in private enterprises. The new regulations explicitly state that Chinese citizens who violate provisions such as export controls and technology import-export management, potentially endangering national industrial security and technological security, can be prohibited from exiting the country.
Interviewed scholars worry that China may gradually return to the model before the 1990s, where traveling abroad is increasingly viewed as a privilege requiring administrative approval. An article domestically compared the new exit-entry regulations to border restrictions during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The article stated that whether self-imposed isolation or so-called autonomous management, both are ways for authoritarian rulers to deprive the public of freedom. Self-imposed isolation and autonomous management were decisions made by the authoritarian rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The characteristic of imperial authoritarian rule is viewing the realm as the private property of a single family, with officials merely being servants and the common people merely being slaves. As a ruler, the emperor first considers the stability of the foundation of power and the generational inheritance of power, and any demand contrary to this consideration will be suppressed by imperial power.
Commenting on the new exit-entry regulations, a netizen said not to rush, as there will be more matters requiring approval in the future; what to eat, where to live, what to use, and where to go will all become power in their hands. If anyone dares to question, they say: "If you haven't done anything wrong, why are you afraid of ghosts?"
Unemployment rates are high, jobs are hard to find, and the government promotes flexible employment. According to statistics, the number of flexible employment personnel nationwide exceeds 300 million. However, between September 8 and 13, places like Kunming in Yunnan, Haikou in Hainan, and Nanning in Guangxi began driving away vendors who make a living by setting up street stalls. Local governments dispatched chengguan and police to drive away vendors, triggering conflicts. Netizens asked why the living environment cannot get better and why chengguan and police, paid with taxpayers' money, are pushing the livelihoods of the lower classes to this extent.
On September 14, over a hundred miners from the Xinglong Coal Mine of Shaanxi Hancheng Xi'an Group went to the government service center to demand unpaid wages after being owed months of salary. During this time, rights-defending workers had physical conflicts with police and security guards at the scene.
This wave of unemployment covers the entire country and may be even more prolonged than the Northeast layoff wave. During the Northeast layoffs, workers could still collect unemployment benefits they had paid into, providing some buffer; this time there is almost no buffer. Some believe this is a nationwide wave of unemployment suppressed with the participation of police.
In China, depositors' money cannot necessarily be withdrawn freely, and going to the bank to withdraw money may even result in threats of calling the police. A Chinese depositor was blocked when going to the bank to withdraw money, and bank staff instead threatened to call the police. Related claims suggest that the bank may have run out of money, and depositors making withdrawals would make other depositors aware of the problem, fearing a run on the bank and ultimately leading to bank failure. Some believe that the CCP is currently using the name of the rule of law to prevent bank runs, and the next step may be exercising control through digital RMB, making every cent of ordinary people used according to regulations.
A parent posted a video online showing military instructors at Guangzhou Donghua Vocational College forcing students to stand in heavy rain for military training. In another video, a high school physical education teacher uploaded footage of a class trying to do pull-ups, with only two out of more than 30 students succeeding. Netizens lamented that students used to easily do 10 pull-ups, whereas many now cannot even manage one, arguing that Chinese sports education focuses not on physical fitness, but on obedience.
On September 13, a netizen posted a video stating that when freshmen arrived to check in at the Zhongdong Campus of Shanxi Medical University, they found that the loft beds with desks underneath were not equipped with climbing ladders. Incoming freshmen had to purchase ladders themselves to enter their dormitories. Students and parents noted in the comment section that the ladders sold by relevant vendors cost about 200 yuan each, and some were not of a suitable height for use at the school. Netizens remarked that the first lesson upon entering university is being exploited, and those surviving in China face exploitation everywhere.
Recently, a medical professional leaked that during a meeting at a hospital in Hainan, the president instructed doctors not to prescribe too many traditional Chinese medicines. Netizens said that when visiting the hospital for medical care, doctors primarily prescribe Western medicines while avoiding traditional Chinese medicines used as auxiliary treatments.
It is extremely difficult for Chinese workers to secure a two-day weekend. On September 14, a blogger in Chongqing launched a challenge: trying to purchase goods only from businesses explicitly stating that their employees get a two-day weekend, to see if he could finally get a full meal. After an afternoon of visits and multiple rejections, the blogger successfully purchased only a single cup of coffee. He said this two-day weekend challenge has more dissemination value than the 100-yuan purchasing power challenge, and hoped bloggers would widely share it.
Previously, a netizen specifically developed a mini-program to search for enterprises implementing a two-day weekend, allowing people to prioritize purchasing goods from such businesses. The mini-program once had over 150,000 users before its service was suspended. On September 3, searching for the "Two-Day Weekend Shopping" mini-program on Xiaohongshu and Weibo both returned no related results. Chinese workers did not wait for a more perfected two-day weekend system; instead, they were met with practices that rebranded "weekend rest" into other terms. Some said that solving labor issues is too troublesome, whereas thanking those who raise labor issues is much simpler.
Comment sections frequently feature netizens saying that China is currently in the twilight of a dynasty, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will collapse sooner or later. Yu Baochun, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, analyzed this. The article states that the collapse of the CCP is not entirely unrealistic. In 1989, six communist regimes in Eastern Europe collapsed one after another within a few months; two years later, the Soviet Union also suddenly disintegrated. Seemingly impregnable dictatorial systems sometimes collapse far faster than outsiders predict.
However, China's scale is completely different. China possesses nuclear weapons, a massive People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police, intelligence and public security systems, biological laboratories, giant state-owned enterprises, banks, and foreign exchange reserves, while being deeply embedded in global supply chains. If central authority suddenly disintegrates, the initial questions would be who controls the nuclear weapons, who commands the People's Liberation Army, and whom state security, public security, and the armed police answer to. Local military and security departments might act independently. The subsequent questions would concern what happens to the RMB, whether banks can still operate normally, who assumes the national debt, and to whom trillions of dollars in state-owned assets belong.
Russia has already provided a negative example. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a large amount of state-owned wealth rapidly fell into the hands of a small number of privileged elites, forming an oligarchic group. If the same thing happens in China, high-ranking party and government officials, the military, security systems, and vested interest groups might take advantage of a political vacuum to carve up state-owned assets. In this way, although the CCP would vanish, it might simply be replaced by another set of oligarchic politics emerging from the ruins.
Other political issues are even more troublesome. Will ethnic conflicts or demands for independence emerge in Tibet and Xinjiang? What about Hong Kong? How will the new government handle the Taiwan issue? Furthermore, what should be done with nearly 100 million CCP members? Should past decades of issues such as the June Fourth Tiananmen crackdown, religious persecution, forced labor, and mass surveillance be investigated? Should secret police archives be made public? How can accountability be pursued while avoiding a descent into massive political retaliation? Waiting until the regime actually collapses to discuss these issues will be too late.
Before the collapse of the Polish United Workers' Party, Solidarity had already established a social network composed of workers, lawyers, economists, and intellectuals, and even researched currency, property rights, and market reforms in advance. Czechoslovakia also had long-standing dissident networks. China lacks a mature civil society, democratic system design, and methods for disposing of state-owned assets. If these mechanisms are not established in time during the transition from the old system to the new one, the downfall of a dictatorial regime does not automatically mean the birth of a democratic system.
Therefore, Yu Baochun suggests that the United States should unite with Japan, Taiwan, Europe, South Korea, Australia, and other countries to establish contingency plans for the post-CCP era in advance. At the same time, they should work with Chinese democracy activists, economists, constitutional scholars, overseas Chinese, and experts specializing in justice issues to study various scenarios. Key priorities include ensuring the security of nuclear weapons, maintaining basic public services, stabilizing financial markets, preventing large-scale retaliation, preserving secret police archives, detaching the military from the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and designing mechanisms for transparent and legal disposal of state-owned assets or future constitutional drafting.
What kind of system China will adopt in the future should ultimately be decided by the Chinese people themselves. What the outside world needs to prepare for is to prevent a power vacuum from evolving into civil war, financial collapse, nuclear proliferation, or another dictatorship. The CCP might rule for several more decades, or it might suddenly collapse before any experts realize it, just like Eastern Europe in 1989. No one knows which day it will be. The fall of an emperor does not automatically bring a good government; without prior preparation, the fall of the CCP might not lead to a free China, but to another authoritarian regime.
With only a little over a week left until the September 24 rally, another sensitive issue has emerged between the U.S. and China: Chinese satellites are linked to the deaths of three U.S. soldiers. The Wall Street Journal exclusively reported that the U.S. government has linked satellite imagery actually provided by China to an attack by Iran on a U.S. military base in Jordan this past July. That attack resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members. U.S. officials stated that Iran obtained high-resolution satellite imagery provided by Chinese entities before the attack to observe the U.S. military base system, and later obtained relevant imagery to assess the strike's effectiveness.
In May of this year, the Trump administration sanctioned three Chinese companies for providing satellite imagery to Iran. The U.S. side is also investigating whether Chinese enterprises helped Iran track U.S. warships. China has denied the relevant allegations. Before the joint meeting, both the U.S. and China were avoiding large-scale geopolitical conflicts.
Shortly after the news about Chinese satellite imagery broke, the U.S. suddenly disclosed information that had rarely been discussed publicly in the past. According to television reports, the U.S. Secretary of the Air Force officially acknowledged for the first time that the U.S. has already deployed weapons in space. The U.S. did not disclose the specific appearance or quantity of these weapons, stating only that this equipment is already in orbit and can protect U.S. forces and, if necessary, counter enemy space capabilities.
Simply put, if enemy satellites are helping to lock onto U.S. military targets, the U.S. has now publicly stated that it possesses the means to counter such threats in space. While the U.S. has typically maintained ambiguity regarding such highly classified capabilities in the past, this time it took the initiative to disclose them. U.S. Space Command officials stated that disclosing these capabilities serves as a deterrent in itself; it is not necessarily about taking action, but rather letting adversaries know that the U.S. possesses such capabilities.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently warned the U.S. not to turn space into a battlefield and opposed an arms race in space. The Chinese side stated that China has consistently adhered to the peaceful use of outer space, maintained outer space security, and opposed the weaponization of and arms race in outer space, urging the U.S. to stop expanding its military and preparing for war in outer space and to maintain global strategic stability with concrete actions.
Just days after the U.S. accused Chinese satellite imagery of helping Iran improve its ability to strike U.S. forces, it told the world for the first time that the U.S. had sent weapons into space capable of countering enemy space capabilities. There is currently no direct evidence of a link between these two events and the unexplained disintegration of the Chinese Yaogan-50 satellite in space on September 4.
Recently, a netizen posted a screenshot of a pop-up advertisement on a domestic mobile phone. The ad disguises itself as a courier, food delivery, or a call from a daughter to induce the user to answer. Whether the user clicks to hang up or answer, the pop-up redirects to a interface for spam calls and unknown numbers.
News on January 11 reported that some domestic mobile phones automatically install unknown applications in the background when the user is over 65 years old, and they are filled with excessive advertisements. On September 13, a blogger showcased an elderly person's phone, with the desktop densely packed with app icons for old songs, free ringtones, incoming call ringtones, karaoke, large fonts, etc., totaling 17 pages. In another video, two elderly people using domestic phones were constantly bombarded with pop-up ads. In just a few seconds of the video, the elderly person was even forced to install a bundled application.
Recently, a netizen posted that their mother had a sudden heart attack. When their father tried to dial emergency services, his Honor phone popped up an advertisement with no visible close button, causing the mother to miss the golden window for emergency treatment. The netizen complained that this is much like the country's governance: no regulation and no constraints.
During netizen interactions, someone mentioned the protest by tobacco farmers in Yunnan, saying that farmers in their hometown had been fooled by the government for years into growing tobacco. The government claimed that growing it for one year could match the income of growing rice for three years. However, after curing and baling, when the buyers finally arrived, they only offered a few yuan per kilogram. After working hard on an acre of land for more than half a year, the final income was only a few dozen yuan.
Another netizen commented that seeing children educated this way at school shows they are being trained into slaves, beasts of burden, and cannon fodder. This is meant to cultivate obedience in children to prevent them from rebelling when they grow up. Another netizen commented on the BRICS summit, saying that although Modi has gray hair, his mental state is exceptionally good. Compared to certain other leaders, internal friction really makes a difference.