Mainland Chinese woman collapses in Taiwan! Intended to conduct united front work on Taiwan's poor, but accidentally went viral across China; Douyin urgently deletes comments! Are the retirement, pension, and childcare benefits for Taiwanese people really this good? No wonder they don't want unification

A Chinese influencer with millions of followers traveled to a rural area in Tainan, Taiwan, intending to film footage of backward conditions for United Front propaganda. However, while randomly interviewing a local grandfather and a new resident from Yunnan who has lived there for 23 years, the influencer was surprised to learn about Taiwan's excellent welfare benefits, including pensions, universal health insurance, 12-year compulsory education, and childbirth subsidies. After the video was posted on Douyin, it attracted significant attention and heated discussion, but the comment section was subsequently heavily restricted, leaving only a few comments. The host uses this to ironically highlight the vast gap in social security and welfare benefits between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

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Today, we are checking out what rural life in Taiwan is actually like, and it is quite enviable. A United Front video on Douyin with over 10 million views features a Chinese influencer who has visited Taiwan many times and has 8.76 million followers—a subscriber count higher than Tsai Ing-wen's vote percentage. She went to the countryside in Tainan, wanting to see how Taiwanese farmers live, but after randomly interviewing a few Taiwanese grandfathers and grandmothers, she was completely shocked. But here is the twist: this video received 521,000 likes on Douyin, which is very high, right? And 115,000 people saved it. Logically, the comment section should be blowing up, but when I clicked on it, did you notice? Only 6 comments remained, and one of them even wrote, "It seems like a paradise," which had over 5,000 likes itself. Whether this video triggered the Douyin Party branch's sensitive comment restrictions or the influencer realized the comment section had completely backfired, we don't know. Why would a video introducing rural Taiwan have such an unusual reaction? It is essentially helping Taiwan conduct a United Front against the CCP. Let's take a look. Today, we are checking out what rural life in Taiwan is actually like, and how it is different from our mainland.

Now we have arrived at this place, which is an orchard in Tainan. Everything planted here is fruit. Let's understand what real rural life in Taiwan is like. Hello, uncle, you just picked some pomelos. I am from the mainland. Are you a local Taiwanese? Yes. Can I ask you a few questions? What questions? Is the land behind you yours? Yes. Is all land in Taiwan private? Yes. Can you buy and sell it? Yes. You can buy and sell it? That is really great. Have you retired this year? I have already retired. Let me ask, here in Taiwan, is there a pension for rural areas? Yes, yes, there is the labor pension fund, labor insurance pension. How much is it per month? Over 20,000 [NTD]. Really? Over 20,000, wow, that is very high. Many Chinese viewers, perhaps from a young age or influenced by the CCP's propaganda, might think that Taiwan's cities and rural areas are full of dilapidated houses and piles of corrugated iron shacks, just like African refugees, right? Remember a few months ago when I connected with that Little Pink from Chengdu, Sichuan? He said the same thing. Yet, just by randomly meeting a grandfather in an orchard, he has a pension of at least over 20,000.

Why was this Chinese influencer so shocked? Because the retirement pensions of many farmers in rural China are only a little over 100 RMB a month. I am from Anhui; my rural area has no such thing, I am neither a cadre nor a worker. It is mainly about getting 3,000 RMB a month here to cover some living expenses, getting 250 a month for minimum subsistence, and 130 for the elderly; if it is not enough, you just make do. Of course, if you pay a higher contribution, you can get 800 or even 1,000, but this ratio—although Taiwan also bases it on this contribution ratio, my grandma is also a retired farmer, and I remember there is a veteran farmer allowance and this kind of female farmer retirement pension and the like, and with the two added together, my impression is that my grandma's total should be around 30,000 to 40,000 New Taiwan Dollars, which is about 9,000 to 10,000 RMB. Compared to the Chinese farmers' retirement pension range of 100 to 1,000 RMB, no matter how you compare it, they are simply worlds apart, right? Moreover, Taiwan's purchasing power parity is much higher than that of China, so this completely slaps the faces of people like the

Let's continue watching. Take a look, this is what a house in a Taiwanese rural area looks like. I feel that the houses in the countryside here in Taiwan are actually quite decent. Look ahead, these houses are built pretty well; at the very least, many of them are three or four stories high. They have a name for this type of house with an open-air terrace on top: a "townhouse" (tou-tian-cuo). Let's see if he's willing to accept our interview. Let's go ask. I must use a more elegant term to say that for the older generation of Taiwanese, they were perhaps what you would call pragmatists, so they really didn't pay much attention to aesthetics. You truly need a good-looking city exterior and a good-looking appearance to attract people here, and what determines whether people can stay is your substance, your human touch, and so on, and your soft infrastructure. But if they aren't even willing to take a glance at your appearance or your urban aesthetics, this is a topic that we in Taiwan should learn about during this generational transition. I went to New Zealand for a conference this year, and I visited both the North and South Islands. After I went to the South Island, I discovered that many of their rural areas and even urban areas are actually covered with corrugated iron roofs. Why doesn't it give people a feeling of being dilapidated or poor? You know, when Netflix filmed that American rock climber climbing the 101 building, you look out, and don't you think this is a bit disproportionate to our salary ratio and our benefits? So, the overall aesthetics of Taiwanese people really need to be improved as well. Therefore, what the Little Pinks sometimes criticize, in my opinion, is just that you are indeed poorer than us.

But I am also very curious; some Taiwanese people praise China's mobile payments, such as Alipay or WeChat Pay, but when they return to Taiwan and are taught to use Taiwan's mobile payments, I have a lot of question marks, right? What are you envying others for? We have them too; you just don't want to look. Let's continue watching. At what age do you retire? 65. Is there a pension? Yes. How much pension can you receive per month? It depends on how much you contribute; it means the more money you pay in, the more money you get back, right? Yes, exactly. What about medical care? Is this health insurance the same in rural areas as it is in the city? Yes, it's all the same. So you don't need to spend money to see a doctor, right? Hmm. You don't need to spend money at either large or small hospitals; you just pay a registration fee, that's all. That's quite good. This statement hits on a point: whether you live next to an orchard in Tainan, or in the Xinyi District of Taipei, or even downstairs from Jay Chou's house, you are eligible, and you are all within the same National Health Insurance system. It won't be the case that because you are a rural resident, a celebrity, or a "Director" (Guanzhang), there will be different charging and reimbursement ratios based on your salary class or regional status. In fact, we in Taiwan don't have high-ranking cadre wards for the "Zhao family" to go to.

A Chinese influencer came to a rural area in Taiwan to film, perhaps originally wanting to see how backward Taiwan is, but after asking around—asking about pensions, health insurance, and living security—the other party answered him fluently. So, is this rural area considered a village? Does this village have a village committee? No. No village committee. Then who do you usually look for if you have something to deal with? The village chief (Li-zhang). If you have something, you look for the village chief. Yes. When Taiwanese people hear this, they might be very curious. We originally have things to deal with by looking for the village chief; many village chiefs even have Line groups. If there's something, we just post it in the Line group, right? In the CCP country, you try looking for a village cadre or a village party secretary—Secretary Chen, let's see if your outcome is being beaten up; Guizhou Xiaowei is a very good example. Now, Taiwan is in the middle of local elections, and everyone is watching Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an and Shen Po-yang, but democratic elections are not just about those political stars on TV; they also include the village chiefs, city councilors, and township representatives everywhere. Your home's drainage ditches, senior activity centers, roads, agricultural issues, and local construction—many things rely on local governments and elected representatives to communicate, coordinate, and supervise, which in turn brings about our people's peace and prosperity. So where do you go to see a doctor? To the district. To the district? Yes. In the village, like in this Li (neighborhood), there isn't a community hospital or anything like that, is there? Of course, he mentioned this. Why isn't there a community hospital in your village? In Taiwan, there are a lot of clinics, small clinics. For example, in my Xincheng Township, there are a bunch of small clinics, and you can also go to Xiulin Township, which is right next door; it's very fast, 5 or 10 minutes and you can get to Xiulin Township. In the clinics in Xiulin Township, you don't even have to pay a registration fee to see a doctor.

I remember streaming this video in 2019 to show Chinese netizens, and they were shocked too. Now comes the climax: he ran into a fellow countryman. I heard people talking inside, let's go take a look. Hello. Hello, picking fruit, are you? We came from the mainland. Is this your family's orchard? Yes, wow, a bumper harvest indeed. What kind of pomelo are you growing right now? This is Wentan, Wentan pomelo. Is this whole piece of land yours? Yes. Wow, that's amazing. How many of these pomelos can you grow in a year? About 25,000 catties. Wow, you're a landlord. Are we going to overthrow the local bullies and divide the land now, or what? Are you a native resident of Taiwan? No, I also came from the mainland of China. You are? Where is your hometown? I am from Yunnan. Look, since you're from Yunnan you grow flowers, no wonder his family grows flowers. How many years have you been in Taiwan now? I've been here for 23 years, I'm practically a local now. It's been over 20 years. Is it true that land in Taiwan is privately owned? Um, basically. What about houses? Are they for life? Um, yes, houses too, they can be used for life. Um, yes, it's just that there is no such thing as a 70-year or 50-year limit.

I guess this might also be one of those cases where comments get deleted in many comment sections. Um, this one wasn't, none of them were, right? Wow, that's amazing. Every time I see this, I get a sense of déjà vu. Little Pinks don't even have private land themselves inside the CCP's Great Firewall; much of the rural land is used as homesteads by village cadres and village party secretaries. Remember in 2020, there was a Little Pink named Lonely Fly who challenged me, wearing a Northeast padded jacket and a military green coat, shouting that Taiwan independence must die. As it turned out, within a month or two, he was filming and crying that his homestead was seized by village cadres, his grandfather was beaten half to death and hospitalized, village cadres maliciously occupied our family homestead, and my grandfather was even beaten to the hospital by them. But what happened? After being mocked by me, he said, don't mock me, that village cadre compensated my grandfather and is coming to the hospital to see my grandfather, so this matter is settled just like that. However, our family homestead was still stolen, but this doesn't prevent my patriotism, my determination to defeat Taiwan independence, and my support for the Communist Party. The other party also paid the medical bills; the nature of the event itself is no big deal, just a very ordinary civil dispute. What I didn't expect was that my videos would be exploited by some ulterior-motive Taiwan independence elements, those so-called waste youth forces. I really didn't expect this. Look, I swear I draw a clear line with them. Sure enough, these people are well brainwashed by the CCP; it doesn't matter if they don't live well, as long as Taiwanese people don't live well either, since they speak the same Chinese language and don't live well, he is very happy, because he thinks Taiwan has no gun barrels to resist like he does.

Of course, I know many Little Pinks will fact-check and say that the houses on our 50-year or 70-year land can actually be renewed automatically. But there is a prerequisite for this: if your local government has no development plan, it's fine, but if it does, or if it wants to acquire your area to turn it into a development zone or development district, then let me ask you, who makes money in the end, you or the local government? Your opposition is invalid, and the renewal is invalid. Depending on the region, some local governments with a bit of a conscience will give you demolition compensation, but there are also those that don't give you any demolition compensation. Didn't Guizhou Xiaowei expose it a few months ago? Her house, which was forcibly demolished after 13 years, only received 1,314 yuan in compensation for a lifetime of hardship, and even had her illiterate father sign a contract waiving demolition compensation 13 years ago. Next, let's look at the most crucial place where they got shattered: can I consult you on a few questions? Here, if you study in Taiwan, how many years of compulsory education are there generally? About 12 years, Taiwan can study up to high school for compulsory education. Oh my god, do you know about the mainland? Taking the high school entrance exam is particularly difficult now; the promotion rate from junior high to high school is only about 50%, it's very hard to pass. Yes, Taiwan's system is indeed more complete than the mainland's; compulsory education is only 9 years on the mainland, while here it is 12 years, which is a bit longer.

This is a part I'm really curious about: how do Chinese viewers and students who are Little Pinks feel when you see this? She herself is originally from Yunnan, People's Republic of China, and now holds this Republic of China identity and Taiwanese household registration. She is just an ordinary person in Taiwan harvesting pomelos in an orchard. But has everyone noticed? The issue of education and academic advancement is a heartache for many Chinese families, including buying school-district housing. You probably feel something when you see this, and I believe many in the comment section are completely devastated. Although Taiwan has 12 years of national basic compulsory education, high schools and vocational schools currently rely mainly on admission without exams. Many qualified public and private high schools and vocational schools are now tuition-free. Taiwanese children certainly face academic pressure, but compared to neighboring countries like South Korea, Japan, and China, the situation in the Asian region cannot be mentioned in the same breath, in my opinion. Many high schools in China follow the Hengshui model, where students don't finish classes until 8 or 9 PM, or even an outrageous 10 PM. They have to wake up at 5 or 6 AM, do morning exercises, and arrive at school by 7 AM—that's completely ordinary. Can it possibly be the same? So do Taiwanese people envy reunification? Do they want their children to suffer from involution together? And then after entering society, starting salaries are 3,000 to 5,000 RMB, having to rely on overtime just to scrape together 8,000 or 10,000 RMB—do you want that? Working with only 4 days off a month—do you want that? If you are a Chinese parent, when your child turns 15, failing to get into a regular high school alone will affect the entire subsequent educational advancement chain. And nowadays, even with a university master's degree, when you go out into the world, you might end up just tightening screws or delivering food.

This influencer was so surprised to hear that Taiwan can elevate basic education up to the high school stage. He didn't hear this from Taiwan government propaganda, but rather from a former Chinese national auntie who moved from Yunnan to live in Taiwan 23 years ago, telling him about it. What devastated him even more was actually yet to come. "What about the children? When they are born, is there a bonus? Do they give you money? Yes, there are childbirth subsidies. The first one is probably 3,600 or so, the second one is probably 6,000 or so. When I had my second and third children, it was around 12,000." "Is that per month?" "Not per month, it's just that when you go to school later, you get a subsidy of about 5,000 to 6,000 a month or so." "Children get a subsidy of 5,000 to 6,000 RMB every month?" "Yes." "Thank you, sister, thank you, sister. Welcome to Xiamen, okay?" "Okay, then that's it, I'll look around some more, okay?" Look, after this Xiamen Fenlan sister asked about retirement pensions, labor and health insurance, and land, she went on to ask about children's education and how much money the government gives them as a subsidy. She had basically gone through a whole round of asking about the living standards and basic welfare of Taiwanese people from birth to retirement. As a result, this new resident auntie told her that Taiwan has childbirth subsidies, and in the past, children might even be able to receive a childcare subsidy of 5,000 or 6,000 per month per child. So you see, this influencer even specifically followed up to ask if that was per year.

Here I will help everyone calculate the numbers more clearly. This Yunnan spouse might be using the old system, because after all, her children were born a while ago. At that time, Taiwan not only had this one-time central childbirth subsidy, but also one-time local subsidies and subsequent monthly childcare allowances and babysitting subsidies—all of these. Furthermore, Taiwan has been promoting even more new subsidies starting in 2026, including higher childbirth benefits, with cumulative subsidies reaching up to 100,000 NTD per child under the policy. Therefore, in a Taiwanese family, it's not like the child is born, you get a lump sum of money, and then it's game over. There are many subsequent continuous subsidies. Of course, I know many Taiwanese parents in the comments will say that my continuous 5,000 or 6,000 a month gets spent instantly on diapers, formula, and daycare centers. That is true, but raising children is your own obligation to begin with, and the government just plays an auxiliary role; otherwise, your child can just be registered under the government's name. Of course, I strongly agree that raising children in Taiwan is more expensive than before, because raising children now requires delicate care, and the housing prices, cost of living, work pressure, and technological changes we face worldwide are much faster than in the past. This causes us sometimes to fail to keep up with the speed of generational change, because it is truly much faster than the era of our grandparents back then. Therefore, government subsidies do not mean young people in Taiwan dare to have children, but this is already enough to cause Chinese netizens to break down. Otherwise, why are there only 6 comments left in the comment section?

Next year, we will continue to implement new population strategy subsidies. For example, in Taipei City, a single child from age 0 to 18 can receive a total amount combining the old and new systems. Taiwanese people complain every day that government subsidies are not enough, but a Chinese influencer went to a rural area in Tainan and found it quite novel, realizing that Taiwanese people actually live this well. Because what kind of childbirth subsidies do they have within China? You can receive subsidies for three years, getting 3,600 RMB per year, and then it stops after three years. So, is their feeling of being 'triggered' (po fang) justified? Also, many of us currently have some misunderstandings about Taiwan, specifically regarding health insurance and social security. We only know that their medical conditions are good and seeing a doctor is free, but you don't know that they have to pay from birth until retirement at 65; the retirement age in Taiwan is relatively high, retiring only at 65. I still need to clarify here: this Finnish lady didn't explain it clearly. Although Taiwan requires paying for this health insurance from birth to old age, the health insurance costs are very low. Let me give an example: if one of my employees has a monthly salary of 50,000 TWD, after deducting 1,145 TWD for labor insurance and 785 TWD for health insurance, they take home over 48,000 TWD. Let me convert this to RMB for you to see how triggering it is: with 11,000 RMB, after deducting 393 RMB for the 'five social insurances and one housing fund', you take home over 10,000 RMB, and this is under the condition of having 8 to 10 days off per month. By the same token, if you earn over 11,000 RMB inside the Great Firewall, you might only have 4 to 6 days off per month, working 10 to 12 hours a day, and after deducting labor/health insurance and the 'five social insurances and one housing fund', you are left with 8,400 to 8,800 RMB, unless you are working illegally without paying the mandatory social security. Moreover, our pensions, unemployment benefits, and medical insurance provide far more benefits in return than yours do.

The question is, you pay more than we do, but the benefits are lower than ours; so who took the difference? The key is that the portion borne by the enterprise is the most outrageous. For example, my boss has to pay an additional nearly 9,000 TWD in labor and health insurance for an employee with a 50,000 TWD monthly salary. How much does a Chinese enterprise have to bear? Assuming the same salary conditions, Chinese enterprises have to pay an additional 3,300 to 4,400 RMB. This also explains why so many Chinese enterprises have been laying off employees or lowering their salaries, or even switching to piece-rate pay models after November 1st. So this is quite enviable. What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment in our comment section to discuss. The problem is, he invited everyone to discuss, and then everyone actually did discuss; this contrast is just too strange. Who exactly restricted the comments like that, and who restricted it? And if you think about it carefully, how much did he say in the whole video? Was it dangerous? No, it was just simply asking passersby, and then saying 'how enviable.' If even this kind of comparison of life can make you feel 'triggered,' then what else is there for you to promote for Taiwanese people to unify with you? Precisely because whether Taiwan is good or bad should not be judged by government propaganda, this video is even more authentic. We don't need to film Taiwan as the most enviable or happy place in the world, but the fact that a citizen of the People's Republic of China came here and had the opportunity to shock their own compatriots about the gap between the two systems across the strait—so, which sentence or which person triggered this comment restriction? Was it the Taiwanese grandpa's pension, or the story of the aunt from Yunnan of 23 years? Surely Chiang Kai-shek doesn't still have troops in China, right? That's all for today's video. If you like it, remember to subscribe; if you don't, make sure to block me. I am Ba Jiong, see you next time, bye.