This video explores the long-standing superstition of backroom diplomacy in U.S. diplomacy toward China and its dangers. The speaker points out that the CCP has repeatedly violated both public and private promises, yet certain interest groups and China experts in Washington still blindly believe in closed-door negotiations. The video reviews the drawbacks of the backroom model since Nixon's visit to China, analyzes the tactics used by the CCP to hoodwink Western dignitaries through information control and cultural misinterpretation, and calls on Washington to abandon appeasement and illusions toward Beijing, adhere to diplomatic principles of transparency, record-keeping, and verification, and force the CCP to change using the truth in the sunlight.
On September 17, citizens in Shenzhen, Guangdong reported that purchasing knives (including scissors) locally requires scanning a QR code for real-name registration and taking photos for retention, sparking concerns over escalating social control.
On September 17, two students at the Guangzhou College of Commerce and Business had a dispute over dormitory bed allocation. During the conflict, one student brandished a knife at the other multiple times, raising concerns about campus safety.
Russia launched airstrikes on Ukraine from the night of September 17 to the early morning of September 18, hitting Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa, resulting in three deaths, multiple injuries, and several fires. Meanwhile, voting began on Friday for the first State Duma parliamentary elections since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Min Zin, director of a Myanmar think tank, was arrested in June while attending an academic conference in Kunming, charged with espionage and endangering state security. His wife, Sylvia, testified before the U.S. Congress on September 17, calling on Trump to secure her husband's release during his meeting with Xi Jinping next week.
On September 17, multiple employees of Tianqu (Xi'an) Co., Ltd. in Lantian County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, held up a banner reading "Return my blood and sweat money" at the company entrance to protest and demand unpaid wages.
On September 18, a large number of depositors in Zhumadian, Henan Province, gathered in the rain outside the municipal petition office to defend their rights, after the company chairman Wang Haizhou failed to fulfill his promise to distribute living expenses before the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays. They chanted slogans demanding to "see the mayor" and called for government intervention to resolve the issue.
On September 13, in Aobei Village, Shuikou Subdistrict, Huicheng District, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, multiple villagers gathered at a construction site to stop work, protesting the highway construction project that excavated and leveled Mashan Hill within the village.
On September 16, villagers in Xujiagou Village, Qian'an City, Tangshan City, Hebei Province, protested against environmental pollution and land destruction caused by mining construction. A large number of SWAT police and security personnel gathered at the scene, engaging in physical clashes with villagers during the dispersal, resulting in multiple villagers being forcefully carried away.