How Mainland China Reacts to Taiwan's Freedom

A single video left Chinese people stunned. The Taipei City government allows ordinary people to freely come and go, and the basement is as lively as a farmer's market. This should be completely normal, yet mainland netizens were shocked, asking, Is this what civilization looks like? The comment section was full of praise, but then things took a turn. All the comments were wiped out overnight. On the World Cup stage, Messi kept scoring hat tricks, but on CCTV, they didn't even dare to mention his name, only referring to him as that player. All because an autographed photo from years ago crossed the Chinese Communist Party's political red line. Meanwhile, in a secret room in Cambodia, 2,100 iron cages were exposed, all holding Chinese college students in their 20s. They were selling organs, selling blood, even extracting breast milk. Each cage had a clear price tag, and the total amount involved reached as high as 1 billion yuan. Watch the world with Weiyu. Hello everyone, I'm Chen Weiyu. Today, we're going to start with a very, very small market. This little market made Chinese people collectively lose their composure. Even the comment section was wiped clean overnight. Here's what happened. A netizen from mainland China was passing by the Taipei City Hall when it started to rain, so he went inside to take shelter and happened to shoot a short video. He discovered that tourists could freely enter and exit the Taipei City Hall building, and the basement wasn't some heavily restricted area. Instead, it felt more like a small marketplace. There were clothing vendors, shoe repair shops, hair salons, everything you could think of. Even the cafeteria for civil servants was open to the public, so regular folks could just go in and grab a meal. It was incredibly down to earth. In his mind, City Hall should be a heavily guarded place with three layers of security checks where outsiders can't even get close to the main entrance. But when he actually went in, he found that the government building was even more relaxed than his own apartment complex. The comment section instantly lit up. Let me read a few comments so you can get a feel for the vibe. Taiwan may be small, but its people are great. This is what a civilized, fair, and just place looks like. And they even added four big thumbs up emojis at the end. Shouldn't City Hall be heavily guarded with security everywhere? This sentence is technically a question, but if you think about it, it's actually rhetorical. The way of poking fun at how their previous understanding has been turned upside down. Someone else said, we have to register just to enter the village committee office, but here you can just walk in. Is this what civilization looks like? This is what civilization really is. There are no social classes. Everyone is equal. Just how backward is Taiwan really? The City Hall doesn't have any security guards and regular people can just walk right in. It's like a big marketplace. In this sentence, they use the word backward, but actually it's a kind of sarcastic envy. Some people even went so far as to say, I want to join Taiwan. Of course, the comment section wasn't all praise. After all, this is a platform inside the Great Firewall, so there always have to be some people to keep things in check emotionally. So comments like this started to appear. How can you just let anyone walk into the city government offices? What if confidential information gets leaked? What would we do then? And the emoji they used was that kind of sarcastic little face rolling its eyes. Obviously, that's just a sarcastic jab at the typical official mindset of always putting national security first, not a genuine concern about leaks. But the best one is this comment. Haha, what does the Beijing city government look like? And then there's this one. I didn't see the petition office, with three crying emojis. The subtext behind that comment, well, those who get it, get it. The petition offices on the mainland are places where ordinary people want to seek justice, but often can't even get through the door. And even if they do, they might not make it out. It's a world apart from the Taipei city government, where you can just walk in whenever you want and even grab a bite to eat. Someone else said, I heard the Kuomintang lives off the people and oppresses them, but what you hear isn't always true. That comment sounds casual and light, but it actually packs a serious punch. Years of anti-Taiwan propaganda narratives were instantly shattered by the reality shown in a casually filmed city government food tour video. But seeing Chinese people get so triggered, these comments also became risky. Sure enough, as the screenshots show, not long after the video went viral, the comment section was already wiped clean. Why was it cleared out? Everyone knows it's because their fragile egos were shattered. So you see, in the context inside the Great Firewall, the threshold for the word civilization is so low that it basically comes down to whether I can freely enter and exit a government building or just have a meal inside. That's not asking for much, right? Unfortunately for the land of the rushes, even that is just a pipe dream. And honestly, this is just a very, very small angle of comparison. If we take a look at the economic situations on both sides, it might make even more Chinese people feel triggered. FAIR's Keng Mingxin, National Development Council Chairman Ye Chunxian, and Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce Chairman Wu Tengmian all said in unison that this year, Taiwan's economic growth rate is expected to surpass 10%. Ye Chunxian gave four reasons. First, last year's consumption base was low, so this year there is more room for growth. Second, exports have exceeded expectations, hitting new highs every month. Originally, it was thought that the tariff war would crush exports. But unexpectedly, the order-shifting effect combined with the AI boom managed to hold things up. Third, the adoption of AI applications is progressing faster than previously estimated, moving from the cloud to end devices. PCs, smartphones, self-driving cars, and robots are all benefiting from this wave. Fourth, traditional industries are starting to recover from their slump. And with the U.S. not imposing Section 232 tariffs, Taiwan is getting better treatment than its competitors. Keng Mingxin added that last year, Taiwan's GDP growth already exceeded 8.76%. And this year, the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics estimates it could reach 9.64%. At this rate, there's a chance it could break through 10%. He also mentioned a very interesting figure. Last year, the machinery industry, which was hit hardest and drew the most attention due to U.S. tariffs, actually saw its exports grow by 18.5% in the first five months of this year, a result never seen before. Wu Donglang put it even more bluntly. He said that Taiwan's GDP in the first quarter reached 14.55%, setting a 48-year record high, and the Taiwan stock market has risen to become the fifth-largest capital market in the world. As long as the government and industry continue to work hand-in-hand, this year's economic growth rate is expected to exceed 10%, making Taiwan one of the world's top $20 trillion economies. It really does sound impressive, doesn't it? Of course, whether these numbers will actually be realized remains to be seen. After all, a prediction is just a prediction. It only counts when it happens. But let's make a small comparison. During the same period, what was happening on the mainland? Many businesses in various parts of Heilongjiang were investigated, triggering a wave of closures. There are reports of layoffs and unemployment in places like Shanxi and Beijing, with declining populations. Some people online are even saying that China is facing a great depression, and there's no way out. There was an unemployed man, 36 years old this year, no family, no children. He looked at a lot of suitable jobs in a third-tier small city, but basically, they all required applicants to be under 35. Not only do they look at age, but they also filter by gender. Women are also highly likely to face discrimination because of childbirth. He sent out a lot of resumes, but almost all of them disappeared without a trace. There was also someone who moved to Beijing to chase their dreams, working hard there for over 10 years. But in the end, it all amounted to nothing, like waking up from a long dream. After being unemployed for two years, they finally chose to leave Beijing. Someone else complained that after going to an interview, they were told to go home and wait for further notice, but then they never heard back again. When going to interviews, it's often with a bunch of people in their 20s, all born after 2000. He feels that at 30, he's already been passed over by society. On one side, you see economic growth starting at 10%, but on the other side, there's no way out. Young people are ready to rebel. This contrast, I think, is more convincing than any commentary. Friends in mainland China can also share with us in the comment section. Is it really impossible to find a job if you're over 35 now? Is it really that hard? Tell us what you've seen. As for the next topic, I have to say, it's the darkest humor of this World Cup. Argentina is dominating this World Cup, and that legendary number 10, Messi, at 38, has pulled off another hat trick. But if you turn on the Chinese broadcast, you'll notice something strange. Every time Messi scores or celebrates, the director immediately switches the camera to a wide shot or a long shot, never a close-up of his face. Some commentators in post-match reports even go so far as to not mention his name at all, instead calling him the Argentine captain, or even more bluntly, just that player. One of the greatest football stars in history is, in the Chinese broadcast, literally downgraded to someone whose name can't even be mentioned. Why is this happening? A lot of people's first reaction is to think of the 2024 Hong Kong no-show incident. Messi traveled with the team to play a friendly match in Hong Kong, but sat on the bench the entire game, refused to accept the award, and was caught on camera deliberately avoiding shaking hands with officials. But just a few days later, he was all smiles as he came on as a substitute in a match in Japan. This scene was interpreted as a deliberate insult to China, completely igniting the emotions of both officials and netizens. But that's not the whole story. What really made Messi cross the line was something that happened even earlier. In 2017, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was in prison with late-stage liver cancer, his life hanging by a thread. He was a fan of Messi, and before he died, with the help of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, he wrote a letter to FC Barcelona, hoping to receive a signed photo from Messi. After Messi received the request, he really didn't care about the political risks and personally signed a photo and sent it to Hong Kong. Overseas, this act was seen as a testament to Messi's personal charm. But in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, this was equivalent to publicly expressing sympathy for the country's top political prisoner, crossing the most sensitive red line. So the way the authorities handled it became very uniquely Chinese. On one hand, because of the huge commercial endorsement interests, like with Meng Nu, Qishuihe Liquor, and others, deals worth billions, they blocked the news domestically and pretended not to notice anything externally. On the other hand, they waited for new and old grievances to pile up to a breaking point. By 2024, when the incident in Hong Kong played out, they finally decided to cool things down completely. This World Cup then became the stage for the most contradictory scene. At first, major media outlets like CCTV, Chasing Traffic, even published high-profile articles praising Messi as a legend. But just a few days later, an urgent internal notice came down, ordering a massive deletion of reports and photos, removing his ads, and restricting close-up shots of him during live broadcasts. And what's even more absurd came after that. When the controversy broke out in 2024, CCTV's flagship program Football World urgently replaced the opening scene of Messi lifting the trophy with one of German legend Philipp Lahm. But after making the switch, they realized that Lahm had previously published articles openly criticizing China's human rights record and called on athletes to take a stand against authoritarian governments. So just a few days later, Lahm's footage also vanished without a trace. So this whole maneuver really could be called a self-destructive boomerang in the world of censorship. Trying to avoid one sensitive figure, they ended up running into someone even more sensitive, and in the end, both had to be deleted. Chinese soccer fans themselves are wryly joking on Weibo, if Argentina ends up winning the championship and Messi lifts the World Cup trophy, will CCTV have to keep the camera zoomed out the whole time or just blur his face entirely? A simple soccer match has been forcibly turned into an absurd comedy by political censorship. Seriously, what kind of emptiness must a regime feel if it doesn't even dare to mention the names of sports stars? But this regime, for so many years, has brainwashed and tamed its people with lies and violence. A lot of Chinese people honestly don't even know who's responsible for their suffering anymore. Today, I saw a video where an elderly scavenger received 200 yuan from a kind person. He kept saying thank you, thank you to the party. The reactions from netizens in the comment section are actually even more thought-provoking than the video itself. He even thanked the very people who caused his suffering, when just thanking the kind person would have been enough. Maybe he's been burned too many times before, so saying that is like a way to protect himself, like a dog wagging its tail to survive. Honestly, I think these few comments have already hit the nail on the head about the true nature of this situation. An elderly person who makes a living by scavenging should have been cared for by the social security system. But instead, he's lived to this age and ended up relying on the charity of strangers for just 200 yuan. And his first instinct isn't to question why his life is so hard, but to reflexively thank the very system that put him in this situation. This isn't an isolated case, this is an instinct that's been drilled into people over and over again. Years of information censorship and brainwashing education have caused many people to lose the ability to think for themselves. He either doesn't know or doesn't dare to think about what exactly has led him to a point where he has to rely on handouts from strangers just to survive. Thanking the party has become the only emotion that's allowed, encouraged, and even internalized as an instinct. Of course, maybe this old man actually understands deep down, but just doesn't dare to say it out loud. Having lived through all the political campaigns, many elderly people in China are actually well aware of how evil this regime is. When they see a camera filming, they feel that this is the only way they can respond. Because this habitual self-censorship has already become ingrained in the survival instincts of Chinese people. If a country trains its people to reflexively thank their oppressors, then that country is seriously ill. Now, the topic I'm about to talk about next might really shock you. This last topic has been a huge scandal both inside and outside the Great Firewall these past few days. The content is pretty heavy, but I really think it needs to be discussed. Liu Ren, a key member of the Chen Ji criminal group and the boss of a telecom fraud park, was recently extradited from Cambodia back to China. An insider released a video showing that a secret room was found in Li Ren's office, packed with over 2,100 iron cages. All of them held Chinese college students who were being kept there to sell their organs, sell their blood, and even to extract breast milk. Each cage had a clearly marked price tag. The insider said that when the police caught Liu Ren, they found a key in his office, which opened a triple-locked door leading to a soundproofed secret room. As soon as the door was opened, the room was filled with iron cages. After counting, there were over 2,100 cages in total, all holding Chinese people, mostly college students just over 20 years old, with the oldest being only 27. Each cage even had a label attached listing the person's name, gender, place of origin, blood type, and school. Below the label, there was also a price tag, 200,000, 400,000, 500,000, or even 700,000 yuan. Someone asked Liu Ren, what do you gain by locking up so many Chinese people? He said he could sell them for money. When asked how many people he had sold over the years, he said, I've lost count. What was even more chilling was that investigators later discovered another secret room, a wall of cash totaling over 300 million yuan, while the personal assets registered under his name were only 150,000. I don't need to say more about where all the money was hidden. Further investigation revealed that children with rare blood types were used to sell blood, while those without special blood types had their organs sold. Liu Ren even kept his own private army in this large compound, and he tricked many of his relatives and fellow villagers into coming there. The investigation also uncovered a human milk factory. The human milk factory was huge, and it was filled entirely with women, all of them very young. He injected the women with veterinary female hormones to make them develop quickly, and once they matured, he would milk them. The milk that was extracted wasn't sold or given to anyone to drink. Instead, every single bottle was placed right in front of him. When asked why he did this, he had only one answer. He said it made him feel thrilled. Liu Ren is from Lingbi, Anhui. In the early 2000s, he went to Cambodia to make a living. In the early days, he was in the daily goods trade, but later he gradually moved into the restaurant, construction, and real estate industries, establishing a presence in both Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh. In 2016, Liu Zi directed Liu Ren and others to establish Jinbei Group in Cambodia, operating multiple online gambling platforms. From online gambling to online fraud, Liu Ren personally managed every step for Jinbei Group. He was the key executor in the entire criminal chain. Chen Xi coordinated everything from behind the scenes, and together the two of them dragged countless Chinese families into the abyss. The Jinbei No. 3 compound controlled by Liu Ren is one of the largest living hells in Cambodia, one of the most notorious, strictly controlled, and deadliest compounds in the country. The more than 2,100 deaf people we mentioned earlier all came from here. However, Liu Ren's public persona in the Cambodian Chinese community is actually quite glamorous. He served as the president of the Cambodia Anhui General Chamber of Commerce for 11 years, is a specially invited member of the Anhui Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and holds 19 physical companies. In Phnom Penh, he owns landmark businesses like the Huangshan International Building and Huangshan Hotel, making him a prominent figure in the area. He has packaged himself as a patriotic overseas Chinese leader and a caring entrepreneur, donating money and goods to his hometown, supporting education, and helping fellow countrymen. Just look at how big this contrast is. From this information, you can deduce that the reason Liu Ren can operate in both legal and illegal circles is because he has the government as his backing. Even the name Prince Group hints at a powerful background. Anyone who's truly clear-headed knows that without the support of Chinese Communist Party officials, he couldn't have gotten this big. The CCP's auxiliary party is Liu Ren's accomplice, with the United Front Work Department and the Ministry of State Security behind them. He's just a disposable pawn, a white glove agent they can throw away at any time. So far, investigations have found that the total amount involved in Liu Ren's case is 1.1 billion RMB. He has been found guilty of telecom fraud, human trafficking, child trafficking, and organ trafficking. And behind Liu Ren is an even bigger player, the Prince Group. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has already designated it as a transnational criminal organization, and its founder, Chen Xi, has been charged with running a massive network of fraud schemes. The U.S. Department of Justice has seized more than 120,000 bitcoins under Chen Xi's name, and British authorities have also frozen his real estate assets in London. Chen Xi was extradited back to China for trial this April. I believe the truth behind all this is even more terrifying than we can imagine. There's nothing the Communist Party can't do, only things you haven't thought of yet. Only by seeing the Chinese Communist Party's true colors and not believing their lies can we have the best chance of protecting ourselves and our families. 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