Xi Becomes Enemy No. 1! No More Fear: Workers Burn, People Rise!

As the flames of revolution devour Iran's dictatorship, the fire doesn't stop at the Middle East borders. It is burning straight through the gates of Zhongnanhai. An unprecedented phenomenon is sweeping across modern Chinese history. Citizens are quietly but rapidly sharing blueprints for homemade weapons. From multi-shot crossbows, high-tension slingshots, to spring-powered harpoons all praised for their lethal power and ease of construction, accompanied by a chilling, unmistakable message. Kill corrupt officials, wipe out their clans. This is not some fringe hobbyist trend. It is the desperate, boiling manifesto of a society pushed beyond the breaking point. With the economy in freefall, wages unpaid for months, and the law serving only as a protective shield for the corrupt elite, the social contract in China has been brutally torn to pieces. From the ashes of despair, fearless warriors are emerging. Kill officials, wipe out their clans is no longer whispered. It is trending, spreading like wildfire. Iran has proven it. Dictators bleed when the people finally unite. The countdown to a nationwide uprising has officially begun. Xi Jinping's worst nightmare is no longer a fantasy. It is becoming terrifying reality. Nationwide protests against tyranny in Iran have not only sent shockwaves through the Chinese Communist Party, but have also given the Chinese public a glimpse of hope. As demonstrations erupted and rapidly spread across Iran, Chinese netizens on the mainland overwhelmingly sided with the Iranian people, viewing the uprising as direct proof that authoritarian regimes are not invincible. Alongside this wave of support, another phenomenon surfaced online in China. The rapid spread of videos sharing and teaching how to make homemade weapons on social media platforms. Previously, there have been multiple incidents of citizens rising up to bomb, massacre the families of, and target corrupt CCP officials. The wave of killing officials and wiping out clans is spreading widely. In these videos, creators bluntly declared, if you can't buy it, you make it yourself, while emphasizing the lethal potential of such devices. The imagery and language quickly drew massive attention, laying bare the deep-seated anger and pent-up resentment simmering within Chinese society. The clips circulating online openly showcased a variety of homemade weapons, including rubber bands combined with springs, multi-shot harpoon crossbows, high-tension pulley slingshots, and wooden horn-style crossbows. The comment sections were anything but casual. Users went straight to discussing lethality, penetration power, and practical effectiveness. Some claimed that composite bows represent the pinnacle of long-range cold weapons, requiring little strength, offering high stability, and at medium to short range, even exceeding the penetrating power of handguns, while being easy to master with minimal training. On the same day, searches on Douyin suggested that Chinese authorities had rushed to delete large numbers of videos related to homemade weapons. Even so, keywords like homemade weapons, DIY weapon videos, and weapon recommendations remained visible in search prompts, revealing a reactive and belated censorship effort. Only after the Iran upheaval did Beijing appear to grasp how dangerous this trend had become. The roots of this resonance lie in Iran's own reality. Under prolonged authoritarian rule, Iran's economy has collapsed, the rial has sharply depreciated, and rampant corruption combined with inept governance has pushed public anger beyond the breaking point. From December 28, 2025 to the present, protests erupted in Tehran and swiftly spread nationwide. Facing mounting pressure, Iranian authorities were accused of using brutal force to suppress the demonstrations. Human rights organizations report that at least 500 protesters have been killed. On Chinese social media, there was virtually no room for neutrality. Mainland netizens openly cheered the Iranian people. Save yourselves with your own hands, idiot. If the next generation is to live like human beings, this must be done. And you don't need guns to succeed. Unity is strength. These comments were swiftly erased, yet their brief explosion across platforms revealed a powerful psychological echo between Chinese society and uprisings beyond its borders. Meanwhile, Chinese state media marched in the opposite direction. Party mouthpieces labeled Iranian protesters as rioters and even reported that an Iranian police station had been attacked by thugs. This narrative immediately triggered a backlash online. One netizen noted that a single related news post attracted 6,390 comments. Not a single one supporting the Iranian police. Others fired back bluntly. They're not rioters. They're courageous people. And those who stand against the people are the real rioters. Political commentator Jiang Feng pointed out that the CCP moved swiftly to seal off related information. On WeChat, words such as Tehran and Riyadh were designated as sensitive keywords to prevent public association. This move was widely seen as whistling in the dark to steady nerves, exposing extreme fear of a broken windows effect. Once Iran's iron-fisted theocratic regime collapses, the Chinese public may awaken and begin questioning their own system. Jiang Feng further likened Iran's elites to those in China, exploiting privilege to move assets and divide the spoils in an end-of-regime scenario, much like major shareholders of Chinese state-owned enterprises who flee before collapse or the so-called national team entering markets to help the powerful cash out while dumping risk on others. Iran's traditional bizarre merchants, once pillars of the revolution, have now turned into opponents. This shift sends a stark warning to China's middle class and private entrepreneurs. Over-reliance on the system can ultimately turn beneficiaries into sacrifices. When state coffers run dry and a dictator needs to extend his survival, vested interests are often the first to be harvested. British psychic Craig Hamilton Parker, known for his predictions on Brexit, the prolonged war in Ukraine, and the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, has forecast catastrophe for China in the red-horse year 2026. He claims that internal forces lying in wait will seize their moment, while economic collapse combined with external conflict will ignite a second revolution. According to his prediction, CCP rule will end, Xi Jinping's health will deteriorate sharply, possibly requiring an organ transplant, and he will be forced from power no later than 2027. Iran's uprising has shattered the myth of invincible dictatorship, and the Chinese people are taking notes. Homemade weapon tutorials, flooding social media, open cheers for revolution, and zero tolerance for the CCP's lies signal one brutal truth. The boiling point has been reached. When Iranians can topple their tyrants with bare hands and unity, the Chinese public sees its own path clearly. Protest songs ring out. Mockery online nationwide. Xi becomes public enemy number one. China's anti-Xi movement grows, calls for his ouster. For many years, enforced silence had been the default condition of Chinese society. Recently, cracks began to surface. Quietly at first, not only through mass protests, but also via underground waves emerging from spaces the Chinese Communist Party long believed were under absolute control. Notably, at the conclusion of the 40th anniversary performance of the musical Les Miserables at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, an unexpected scene unfolded. Audience members suddenly began singing together the song, Do You Hear the People Sing? The anthem, from the film adaptation of Les Miserables, had long been banned in mainland China. For years, it had been closely associated with Hong Kong's umbrella movement and the anti-extradition protests, becoming a powerful symbol of resistance, democracy, and freedom. Witnesses said nothing had been planned. One person started singing. A second joined in. Then the entire hall followed. The spontaneous public singing of a banned protest anthem, combined with open mockery of authority, signaled that the CCP's political grip had already crumbled at the psychological level of society. At the same time, a phenomenon spread rapidly across China's internet at a pace difficult to contain. Netizens call it tower charging. Understate propaganda articles, videos, and images, waves of off-key comments appeared. There were no overt slogans, no explicit calls for overthrow, just sarcasm, wordplay, awkward questions, and nicknames aimed at those in power. Tower charging is a low-risk, high-viral form of resistance that reflects a shared and widespread public resentment. On Daoyin, content once considered untouchable began to reappear. Images of Tiananmen on June 4th, the Tank Man, and homophones and coded language alluding to mocking Xi Jinping. Some users even used official CCP news posts as backdrops. Placing dissenting comments directly beneath them, the CCP maintains its rule through censorship, deception, and fear, not through any genuine political legitimacy. After the United States captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, the fractures in Chinese public opinion became even clearer. A growing number openly congratulated the Venezuelan people and left comments subtly expressing hope that a similar scenario might one day unfold in China. On Daoyin livestream comment feeds, messages such as FOS and Save Me, alluding to wanting the United States to come and arrest Xi Jinping and wipe out the CCP, appeared in large numbers. When China's foreign ministry demanded Maduro's release, official news videos about the incident were immediately drowned in mocking comments. Some users openly voiced support for the US action. The authority of the CCP is eroding in parallel with the collapse of Xi Jinping's personal authority. These signs were not confined to the digital sphere. On October 13, 2022, banners appeared on Beijing's Sitong Bridge, calling for freedom, opposing lockdowns, demanding reform, and explicitly naming Xi Jinping. Shortly afterward, the nationwide white paper movement erupted, with protesters openly chanting slogans against the CCP and calling for Xi's resignation. Following these events, a series of similar actions, such as hanging banners and toilet revolutions, accusing and calling for the overthrow of the CCP and Xi Jinping, have appeared with increasing boldness and frequency. Opposition to Xi and opposition to the CCP have now merged into a broad social front. These openly named acts of defiance did not emerge out of nowhere. After the 19th Party Congress in 2017, Xi Jinping centralized power and pushed through constitutional changes in 2018 to abolish presidential term limits. From that moment, resentment began accumulating within segments of the political elite and among so-called red families. In 2020, when COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, the cover-up and early mishandling sparked widespread controversy. Over the following three years, the zero-COVID policy was enforced through prolonged lockdowns, extreme controls, and administrative coercion, leaving deep social scars. Nationalism and propaganda no longer have the capacity to conceal unemployment, economic decline, and a deepening livelihood crisis. After the 20th Party Congress, when Xi secured a third term and loyalists took over key positions, new turmoil followed. The sudden lifting of lockdowns triggered a massive wave of infections. At the same time, the economy slid further. Foreign capital withdrew, businesses collapsed, unemployment rose, and living conditions deteriorated. Xi Jinping has not only failed in economic and social governance, but has also shattered the internal balance of power within the CCP. Even as authorities signaled reassurance to private businesses, they continued tightening political controls, escalating human rights repression, launching nationwide anti-espionage campaigns, and banning negative discussion of the economy. Not only is the public furious, according to scholars and insiders, private conversations among Chinese officials in recent years have increasingly been filled with unrestrained mockery and sarcasm directed at Xi Jinping. Indecent nicknames circulate quietly but persistently. Observers have compared the atmosphere to the final years of the Cultural Revolution, when officials openly ridiculed the Gang of Four. When internal officials openly mocked the Supreme Leader, the regime has entered a crisis of legitimacy from within. In the past year, China's military experienced repeated upheavals. Hundreds of senior generals, including numerous generals personally promoted by Xi Jinping, were removed or investigated, drawing international attention. The image of Xi as a communist emperor has collapsed. Replaced by that of an incompetent, unfinished, and increasingly isolated ruler. According to legal scholar Yuan Hongbing, recent years have seen a wave of discontent spread through the official ranks, alongside growing public anger. He argues that Xi Jinping's conduct and policies have not only turned him into a public enemy of society, but have also triggered resentment within the very system he commands. No more fear. Workers burn. People rise. China awaits the fall of Xi and the CCP. A recent video posted by a netizen in Jiangxi captured a factory consumed by flames. Thick black smoke rose over the industrial zone, while one line dominated the comment section. We got paid, so our factory didn't burn. Similar scenes have surfaced repeatedly across the country. Factories in multiple regions have gone up in flames without warning, inflicting severe losses. In many cases, wages were withheld. Owners claimed they were out of money or simply vanished, leaving workers to fend for themselves in reclaiming what they were owed. Another widely circulated clip on YouTube showed a garment factory torched by its own workers after the owner failed to pay months of wages. The uploader summed it up bluntly. Working all year is already hard enough. You still have to fight just to get paid. Elsewhere, a migrant worker confronted a factory boss, kicked over a workbench, and said flatly, you have no money and you still expect me to keep working? When someone suggested calling the police, many commenters replied that the boss had connections with local authorities and had nothing to fear. For these workers, the law no longer offered protection. Direct confrontation was all that remained. At the same time, many cities have deployed drones to monitor electric scooter violations and issue fines. Online, a single question keeps resurfacing. If drones can fly everywhere to find people, where are they when children go missing? One comment shared widely read, they never miss when it comes to finding ordinary people. But when someone disappears, nothing ever gets solved. In rural Hubei, as northern China entered the coldest stretch of winter, many households refused to turn on heating. Coal use had been banned, natural gas prices were high, and subsidies had been reduced or eliminated. One rural mother told her daughter, heating costs more than 50 yuan a day. One winter costs 4,000 to 5,000 yuan, roughly 600 to 700 U.S. dollars. The house is still cold. When we burned coal, at least it was warm. Nearly every household had gas installed, yet few dared to use it. Meanwhile, cities across China launched another wave of road repairs. Roads resurfaced just a year earlier were dug up again. Citizens asked openly, bad roads aren't fixed, so why tear up the good ones? One comment spread rapidly online, people can't afford food, but money keeps flowing into ripping up roads. CCP officials are at it again, siphoning off project funds. This year, numerous major cities abruptly canceled New Year countdown events, triggering public anger. Thousands of people waited for hours in plazas and shopping malls. As screens displayed 3, 2, 1, they suddenly went dark. The crowd stood in silence and darkness, some cursed openly. Even moments of joy, many said, can be switched off at will under dictatorship. In early January 2026, a case in Hong Kong drew attention. A woman who failed to complete a mobile payment smashed a shop with a knife and confronted police. Online reactions were swift. Hong Kong is becoming like the mainland. The term social revenge appeared with growing frequency, describing spontaneous acts of violence amid economic collapse and relentless pressure. On January 3rd, 2026, news that the U.S. military had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro spread rapidly across Chinese social media. The reaction was anything but restraint. Many netizens praised U.S. military efficiency, joking that capturing a president was faster than catching a chicken. Others mocked the operation as unlike the CCP, which they said relies on flashy drills and empty slogans. One comment asked openly, when will this happen in China, capture Xi Jinping and put him on trial? The following day, Shanghai entrepreneur Hu Lirenzhiqiang wrote on X that Maduro's capture had thrown Xi Jinping into a state of panic. Reports from Beijing that same day pointed to heightened security measures, increased activity around key military installations, and the activation of multiple underground shelter systems. Earlier, on January 2nd, an ex-platform vlogger known as Muscle Cat posted a video in which a man addressed the camera directly, declaring defiance against the CCP. They want you afraid. Afraid to speak. Afraid to remember. But today, we make one thing clear. We are no longer afraid. We will not accept tyranny. Your propaganda is a paper tiger. Justice has cast its net. Fear is your last weapon. The response was immediate. Comments poured in. The whole nation is waking up. We stand with you. Veterans support this. One user wrote simply, Respect to those who dare to speak the truth. Under the CCP's authoritarian rule, China's economic deterioration has continued unabated. Countless businesses have collapsed. Foreign capital has withdrawn in waves. Unemployment has climbed. And daily life for ordinary people has grown increasingly unbearable. Protests and confrontations have erupted one after another. More citizens are beginning to recognize that these crises share a common root in the authoritarian system itself. The regime's heavy-handed repression and silencing of dissent have only intensified public anger, with social frustration rising by the day. Many now openly hope for the CCP's collapse and the arrival of a China defined by freedom and democracy. Xi's Iron Brothers crumble. Maduro seized Cuba on brink. Colombia defies Trump. Who falls next? The fallout from the capture of Nicolás Maduro continues to ripple outward, reshaping the geopolitical landscape of Latin America. This was not simply an extraordinary cross-border military operation. It was a direct strike at the interconnected network of left-wing authoritarian regimes in the Western Hemisphere, an axis that, over the past decade, has become deeply enmeshed with the Chinese Communist Party. A mainland blogger summed up the pattern with biting sarcasm, warning that China has become a place foreign strongmen should no longer visit lightly. Political fortunes, he noted, have a habit of collapsing soon after such trips. Former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad traveled to China in 2023 and toured Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple. By the end of 2024, his regime had been swept aside by opposition forces. Maduro followed an eerily similar trajectory. After multiple visits to China, climbing Mount Tai and proclaiming that Venezuela-China friendship was as solid as Mount Tai, he was captured alive on January 3, 2026 and transferred to the United States to stand trial. The man once hailed as a symbol of ironclad friendship became a case study in how brittle regimes aligned with Beijing truly are. For years, Maduro was more than Venezuela's president. He was a central pillar of the CCP's strategic architecture in Latin America. Caracas supplied Cuba with deeply discounted oil, effectively propping up the Havana regime and, by extension, reinforcing China's influence across the region. With Maduro's fall, that chain of dependency began to snap immediately. Cuba, already suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, now faces the loss of its most critical energy lifeline. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated bluntly that Cuba is on the brink of collapse, emphasizing that Maduro's arrest severed Havana's most important financial and energy support. The shock did not stop there. Cuban authorities unusually acknowledged that their soldiers and security personnel had been killed while helping protect Maduro, an admission that exposed how deeply Havana was involved in sustaining the Caracas regime. Attention quickly shifted to Colombia. Under left-wing president Gustavo Petro, Bogota has taken a markedly China-friendly turn and formally joined Beijing's Belt and Road initiative. Petro responded to Maduro's capture by warning of regional instability and ordering troop deployments along the Venezuelan border. Washington's response was far sharper. Trump accused Colombia's leftist leadership of facilitating drug trafficking into the United States and warned that military options were not off the table if Bogota failed to reassert control. Petro's defiant retort, If you want to arrest me, try, echoed almost word-for-word the rhetoric Maduro used shortly before his own arrest, leaving little ambiguity in the warning. Inside China, the psychological impact was profound. Hardline commentators who had confidently claimed the United States would never dare to carry out such an operation became targets of widespread ridicule. A viral video of a well-known military pundit losing emotional control, slamming the table, and even striking himself circulated widely as a symbol of shattered confidence. This was not merely an analytical error. It was a direct blow to Beijing's long-cultivated narrative that the United States is in terminal decline and no longer willing to pay the price of global leadership. Analysts argue that the operation also disrupted a series of diplomatic initiatives China had been quietly advancing across Latin America. Beijing's slogans of South-South cooperation and shared development rang hollow when its most important regional ally was arrested days after high-level diplomatic exchanges. Some observers went further, suggesting that with China already strained by internal crises, any reckless attempt to use force against Taiwan could transform Xi Jinping into the next Maduro. That warning resonated strongly in Taiwan. Taiwanese entrepreneur Tao Xingcheng said Maduro's arrest blew apart the CCP's strategic assumptions. He argued that regardless of how Beijing cloaks itself in nationalism or invokes sovereignty to silence criticism, its record of lies, repression, human rights abuses, authoritarian corruption, and intimidation of neighbors such as Taiwan and Japan will inevitably provoke international retaliation. Tao added that restraint by CCP leaders would not only stabilize the region but also weaken pro-Beijing forces in Taiwan that have grown increasingly emboldened by China's aggressive posture. We're grateful you joined us for China Today. If you value independent, thought-provoking journalism, we'd love for you to subscribe. Drop your thoughts in the comments and be part of the discussion. See you next time. Stay informed and stay well.