Speaker A
Teacher, we just talked about the series of failures from electric vehicles to chips. Xi must be furious.
Analysis of Xi Jinping's anti-corruption purge targeting retired officials and powerful families ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session.
Key Takeaways
- Xi Jinping is conducting a deep anti-corruption purge targeting both current and retired officials linked to the Shanghai Gang.
- Family financial connections are a key focus, implicating relatives of top political leaders in corruption investigations.
- The emigration of the Rong family marks a significant and symbolic event reflecting broader social changes in China.
- The purge is part of a strategic effort to consolidate power and eliminate Jiang Zemin’s influence before the Fifth Plenary Session.
- The Chinese government is signaling zero tolerance for corruption, regardless of an official’s past contributions or retirement status.
What the video covers
- Xi Jinping intensifies anti-corruption efforts, targeting retired officials like Huang Qifan with retroactive investigations dating back over 20 years.
- The investigation implicates key political figures linked to the Shanghai Gang, including Wang Huning, Han Zheng, and Li Zhanshu, through family financial ties.
- The purge aims to dismantle the influence of Jiang Zemin’s faction within the Chinese Communist Party ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session.
- The Rong family, historically loyal 'Red Capitalists,' are emigrating to Canada, signaling a major social and economic shift in China.
- The Rong family’s departure is unprecedented given their longstanding support for the Communist Party and their significant economic role.
- The investigation extends to financial crimes involving state assets, capital laundering, and connections to Hong Kong.
- The rhetoric from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection emphasizes no safe haven for corruption regardless of rank or retirement status.
- Rumors circulate about high-level officials facing scrutiny, creating a tense atmosphere of political purging.
- The video highlights the broader implications of these purges on China's political stability and elite power structures.
- The historical context of the Rong family and their role in China's economic development is explored to underline the gravity of their emigration.
Chapters
- 00:00Xi Jinping's Anti-Corruption Fury and Huang Qifan Investigation
- 02:44Connections to Wang Huning, Han Zheng, and Li Zhanshu
- 05:39The Rong Family's Emigration and Its Significance
- 08:16Public Reaction and Media Coverage of the Rong Family
- 10:43Historical Background of the Rong Family and Their Role in China
- 12:35Financial Crimes and Capital Laundering Allegations
- 15:15Political Implications of the Purge Ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session
- 18:22Broader Social and Economic Impact of the Purge and Emigration
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
He even said, "Try lying to me and see what happens." So, what is the even harsher thing you mentioned? It's this article. This is an open piece from the CCDI website that cites Xi Jinping's words. What does it say inside?
Speaker A
Regardless of your rank, your past contributions, or whether you have retired, as long as you engage in corruption, there is no way out and no such thing as a "safe landing."
Speaker A
Gee, that's terrifying! It doesn't matter how great your achievements are; if you
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have issues, I'm coming for you. We just talked about Huang Qifan being targeted, and now with this kind of rhetoric, does it mean more high-ranking officials are about to fall ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session?
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Yes, after this article appeared, I could feel a kind of bloody, murderous intent starting to emerge. Why do I say that? Because even though this article mentions the case of Huang Qifan, why mention Huang? Because Huang has already retired, right? He's 74 years
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old. They are retroactively investigating him, but how far back? It is said they are investigating back to 1999. What are they looking into? They are investigating his time in Shanghai.
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The reason people think this is a big deal is that right before the Fifth Plenary Session, they are suddenly retroactively investigating the so-called "Shanghai Gang," because Huang's true origins weren't just in Chongqing. Looking back to 1999, everyone knows what era that was. It
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was around the time Jiang Zemin entered the central leadership. What role did Huang Qifan play in the entire "Shanghai Gang" system behind Jiang Zemin? Now, several theories have emerged. What is the first one? Because Huang Qifan served as the Mayor of
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Chongqing, right? But he would sometimes go to Fudan University in Shanghai to give lectures or do teaching work. But do you all know who the current Chairman of the CPPCC is?
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Wang Huning. Where did he come from? He came from Fudan University. But what was he when he came out of Fudan? He was promoted by Jiang Zemin to become the Director of the Central Policy Research Office, and he stayed through
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the Xi Jinping era. He is a veteran of three administrations and is now the CPPCC Chairman. It is said that Wang Huning is in trouble because he is also linked to this Huang case. And there is someone I think is even more likely.
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Who? Who is the current Vice President of the State? Han Zheng. Han Zheng was also born in Shanghai, served as the Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and was once a member of the Standing Committee. As for right
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now, who is Han Zheng? He is the one who greeted Trump during his visit to Beijing. In fact, he is not a member of the Standing Committee now, so the question is, how exactly is he connected to Huang? It is through Han
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Zheng’s daughter, whose name is Han Xue. Han Xue and Huang Qifan’s son, Huang Nanchuan, are basically involved in the financial sector. Remember, when the Chongqing Municipal Committee released information about Huang Qifan’s case, it mentioned state assets, finance, and national
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construction—all these things are related to Huang Qifan. It is rumored that a lot of capital was laundered into Hong Kong, and now the question is whether there is a connection to Han Zheng’s daughter, Han Xue; she is the
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second person being investigated. The third rumor circulating is about Li Zhanshu. Do you know who Li Zhanshu is?
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Li Zhanshu is the one who held down the documents when Hu Jintao tried to flip through them last time; he is a true political ally of Xi Jinping. However, Li Zhanshu’s daughter, Li Qianxin, also has financial activities in Hong
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Kong, which are said to be related to Huang Qifan’s son, Huang Nanchuan. In other words, if this investigation continues, it won’t just expose the Shanghai Clique, because under these circumstances, the investigation won’t just go back 10 or 20 years; it
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could go back over 30 years. In such a situation, isn't Jiang Zemin the one whose name they are currently celebrating? If so, why does it seem like they haven't finished purging Jiang Zemin’s people, and are continuing to purge them? This article
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mentions something: regardless of how high your rank is, or how large or small your contributions are, or whether you have retired, if there is corruption, I will investigate it to the end; there is no such thing as a "
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safe landing." So, until now, all kinds of rumors have been circulating all over the internet. Some say Wang Huning is in trouble, some say Zhao Leji is in trouble, some say Han Zheng is in trouble, and some say Li Zhanshu is in
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trouble; wow, these are basically issues that could shake the foundation of the nation. Is the atmosphere of impending purge this intense ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session? And this is because Huang Qifan is being investigated today, right? Will he
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reveal even more accomplices from the past? He was in Shanghai for 33 years—no, 3 years in Shanghai—and then spent so many years in Chongqing. Given the situation where we're seeing these so-called big shots getting caught, might there be many more? Exactly. But
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looking at the articles published by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, it seems that the murderous atmosphere before the Fifth Plenary Session was truly intense. The Chinese financial sector once had two very famous headlines. One was "Don't let
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Terry Gou run away," and the second was "Don't let Li Ka-shing run away." Gou is Taiwanese, and Li is from Hong Kong; they were always outsiders to China, so their departure wasn't entirely surprising. But now, a family is
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leaving China that has caused a massive upheaval—a huge shock. This is the family known as the "Red Capitalists," the Rong family. We know that when the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan, many conglomerates left with them, but the Rong family insisted on
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staying in China. They went through the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and many bleak years, yet they walked with the Communist Party the whole way. During China's reform and opening up, they also played a very
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important role. So, the Shanghai Rong family was effectively the wealthiest in all of China, representing a status in the country equivalent to that of the Rockefeller family. But no one expected that even the Rong family would pack up now, and that the whole
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family would be emigrating to Canada. For China, this is obviously a monumental event. People are saying that the Rong family's emigration isn't just a turning point in their family's fate; it’s a landmark event indicating social change in China. So,
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is the Rong family really that important? After the Rong family left, it was a massive deal for China—the Rong family moving to Canada is something China simply can't handle.
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But how did the Chinese media react? The Chinese media didn't criticize the Rong family; instead, they introspected, asking what went wrong with our society. So you see, in China, no one actually dares to criticize them.
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No one dares to criticize them. Why does no one dare to criticize them? Pardon me, Rong Yiren, Rong... What kind of person is he? When the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan, he held his ground in mainland China. He chose
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to join the Communist Party, donating his family's assets—at the time, they were the "Kings of Cotton and Flour"—to the nation, stating, "If you want it for the country, I will give it to the country." During the "Three-Anti" campaign, they
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were targeted and persecuted. Even during the Cultural Revolution, as capitalists, they were naturally targeted. Rong Yiren himself was beaten, his fingers were broken, and it was Zhou Enlai who protected him.
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He was tasked with heading the CITIC Group to manage investments. He has been by the Communist Party’s side from 1949 to this very day, which is why no one dared to touch them.
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standing in China was completely different. Now, the family is allegedly leaving. Why would they leave? How did this situation even come about? The main reason is that a moving company posted a video, saying, "Look, our moving company is getting ready to ship
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these items to Canada." And we’re an international moving and shipping company. Exactly, and they moved quite a lot of items, and they put all these photos out there. But the problem is, anyone with a discerning eye could immediately
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tell that this residence was extraordinary. Look at it in the bustling district of Shanghai—the mansion is so huge, the rooms are so vast. Anyone with experience could see these were antiques, made of nanmu or other fine woods; this wasn't an
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ordinary family's home. People were asking, "Who could this be?" Many knowledgeable people said, "Hey, this isn't right! This is the Rong family's residence!" So, people started asking if the Rong family was really planning to flee.
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Every screen and every cabinet they have is steeped in history. One look is enough to tell they are incredibly valuable—whether it's nanmu or some other precious timber. People wondered, "How could someone have a home like this? Who exactly does this house
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belong to?" Of course, everyone figured it must be the Rong family. As a result , many Chinese media outlets started reporting that, indeed, the Rong family had originally intended to move their furniture and slip away quietly. They hadn't planned on this, but the photos
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were leaked. They said the Rong family wanted to make a quiet exit, but they never expected the moving company, in a show of bravado about their business, to end up exposing the whole thing.
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Yes, look, this is the Rong family’s building in Shanghai. Right, they have many buildings in Shanghai! One of them has even become the current headquarters for P in Shanghai. While many of their properties have been turned over to the state, they still
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have plenty of mansions left. Are you saying this is the Rong family's house? Their villa in Shanghai?
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They have many mansions. Even though many have been donated to the state, they still hold quite a few. So, the Rong family is truly wealthy, you know?
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The Rong family is truly prominent. In fact, they have presence in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well. You know how wealthy the Rong family is, right? Do you have any idea what their total family assets are estimated to be? 300
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billion US dollars. They could be called the wealthiest family in China. 300 billion US dollars—some call them the Chinese version of the Rothschild family. Now that they are pulling their major assets out of China, you can see why China has no way to point fingers
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at them. Why? Because everyone now knows why they are running. In his recent important speech at the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, what did Xi Jinping say? He said that any hesitation, wavering, slackening,
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softness, or giving up halfway would lead to subversive errors. He insisted on maintaining high-pressure tactics, never stopping for a step, and not retreating even half a step, vowing to continue the fight against corruption without pause.
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Furthermore, he has escalated the situation. So, looking at this, the Rong family probably thought, "If I don't run now, when would be a better time?" That is why they originally intended to run away quietly. I don't think China dares to stop them. Given
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the Rong family's status, China can't promote this incident, but they can't prevent them from leaving either. The plan was to leave quietly, but this moving company just had to go and blow the whistle, and now Chinese netizens are all discussing this matter. So, as
Speaker A
just mentioned, this isn't coming from us; NetEase News explicitly reported that the first major event in China for 2025 is the Rong family immigrating to Canada.
Speaker A
Right, this isn't just us talking; NetEase News posted it, and they posted it saying no one dared to block this news. So, what does it say? It reflects the plight of a "Red Capitalist," the family's development strategy, a social
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signal regarding the exodus of a prominent family, and even opposition to current policies—NetEase, this NetEase article, mentions all of this.
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You can't blame them; they have already accompanied China through its bleakest years. As I just mentioned, the Three-anti and Five-anti campaigns, the Great Leap Forward, including the Cultural Revolution—they were beaten, their arms were broken, yet they endured it all, and they even walked
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the entire path of Reform and Opening-up alongside Deng Xiaoping. Never did they expect that at this very moment, they actually couldn't stay any longer.
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So, the Chinese public is paying very close attention to this matter. Look, here is another major influencer who says the departure of a prominent family sends a strong signal, affecting the confidence of other entrepreneurs and capital, and potentially triggering
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even larger-scale capital flight and brain drain. All signs clearly indicate that a storm is coming.
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A storm. Yes, and it says the Rong family's move overseas is not just a turning point for the family's destiny, but also a landmark event in China's social transition. Indeed, the Rong family holds a completely different status in
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mainland China. And I heard what you said earlier, about their mansion in Shanghai—it’s magnificent; you couldn't build something like that today. And those patterns in the tiles —without that kind of thousand-year family heritage, how could you have such taste? Now, speaking of that time,
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here is a photo of him with Deng Xiaoping, and even... Aside from that, I think what's most fascinating is the founding ceremony of the CCP, right? Didn't he ride in a car during the founding ceremony? Is that Lin Biao?
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Whose car was he sitting in? It was a Buick. That Buick belonged to the Rong family.
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Yes, you know, their status is truly on an entirely different level. Why do I say that? When China—the so-called Communist takeover of the mainland— happened, they actually didn't leave at the time. They said, "Fine." Do you know why they didn't dare to leave?
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Because at the time, they were being investigated by the KMT. The Rong family was being investigated by the KMT—why did the KMT investigate them?
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Because he said, "Your flour is adulterated; the reason we lost the Northeast war is precisely because of your adulterated flour." They originally wanted to arrest Rong Yiren and have him executed. Later, because the CCP occupied Shanghai, he was left
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unharmed. After he was safe, he said, " I will actively cooperate." So, regarding all of China's policies, whether you want my cotton mills or what are called these textile factories , I will hand them all over to the
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central government. They even set up joint state-private enterprises; that's right, I gave them up for public ownership, so I had nothing left.
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Although he cooperated like this from the beginning, that's why he was a "Red Capitalist." So later, why did Mao Zedong call him a patriotic Red capitalist? Because every major event in China was related to him. Take the founding ceremony, for instance; the
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car they used—this was the only time China used an American car, a Buick, for the military parade at the founding ceremony—where did that car come from ? It was lent to them by Rong Yiren. He said, "Take our cars." Since you need a
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very good car for the founding ceremony and China couldn't find one at the time , only he had these cars. He lent them —not just one, but an entire fleet— to them.
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The entire fleet. All for your use. Right, and besides that, there was also the Korean War.
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During the Korean War, look, China barely had any aircraft back then. Rong Yiren said, "Since we are fighting the Korean War to resist America and aid Korea," he donated 12 fighter jets, along with massive amounts of supplies, saying, "Whatever you need, flour or
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anything else, I will donate it all to you." That is how he donated back then.
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So, that is why he was a "Red patriotic capitalist"—it's exactly because of this. Whenever the country is in need, you are there, so there is no issue with being "Red." Mao Zedong was very ...whenever Mao went to Shanghai, he
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would always go to one place: the Rong family home. He would always go. So, his relationship with Mao was, as you can see, extremely, extremely close.
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Furthermore, in the Reform and Opening-up mentioned earlier, the stability Deng Xiaoping needed—his first move for stability was to call on Rong Yiren to take charge. To take charge, he actually founded a company at the time, which is the now very
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famous CITIC Group. Right, isn't that what I just said? Later, he was persecuted during the three movements and the so-called Cultural Revolution, and even suffered beatings. But after the Cultural Revolution ended, Deng Xiaoping still sought his help, and he
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was still willing to lend a hand to China. So, he founded what was called the China International Trust and Investment Corporation, known as CITIC Group. He was asked at the time, "Yiren , you take on the role of president and
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manage it." So, what was Rong Yiren's status back then? He was the most important driving force behind all private enterprises during China's reform and opening-up. He started various industries in China—shipping, this, that—creating a vast array of businesses. It was with him that
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China's reform and opening-up enterprises truly began to branch out. He was even the first to enter Hong Kong, later using CITIC to acquire companies there, including Dragonair, Cathay Pacific, and even Hong Kong Telecom. Yes, he was the one who first
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delved deep into Hong Kong. If you were to talk about the primary credit for China's reform and opening-up, no one could truly compare to Rong Yiren.
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Furthermore, regarding the extent of their family's wealth, there was a livestreamer who somehow got hold of a small, seemingly insignificant stamp.
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All of this came from the young mistress of the Rong family. Why does everyone say the Rong family is like a hidden treasure? Last year, on a TikTok livestream called "Tingting Jianbao," where they appraise items, someone brought an item to be appraised
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and said, "Let me show you something." He took out one of these—I mean, he took out one of these. What is this?
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It’s a stamp, a single stamp. And what kind of stamp is it? The appraiser said, "This stamp of yours..." So...
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They said the hand on the right was the hand of the young mistress of the Rong family. He asked, "What on earth is this?" He was completely shocked. "What is this?""This is China's first stamp.
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How could you have China's first stamp? " Then, a whole bunch of other treasures were brought out, and everyone was completely stunned. "What are these things?" Chinese silver dollars, China's first silver dollar, Chinese land deeds—I’ve never seen things like this before. The appraiser
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kept identifying them as silver notes from the Qing Dynasty post office, and other incredible relics. Everyone in the livestream at the time said this completely overturned their understanding. We kept wondering, who exactly was this? At that time, someone
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said it was Madam Rong, and she brought out...At that time, perhaps she was already in a condition where...So, as just mentioned, the largest family in China's financial sector is the Rong family, while in officialdom and academia, it is the Qian family; both
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are absolute pillars of society. Of course, when we talk about the Rong family, there are actually two most important branches: one is Rong Yiren's , and the other is Rong Zongjing's.
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Rong Zongjing is the one behind what we now know as the Shanghai Commercial Bank; that branch, yes, that is that branch. As for Rong Yiren, they are a separate branch, and it passed down to his son, Rong Zhijian; that is their
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branch. This branch—the one that was in China—has now moved to Hong Kong and Taiwan.
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Taiwan's Shanghai Commercial Bank, Taiwan's Shanghai Commercial Bank belongs to the Rong family. Do you know how wealthy the Shanghai Commercial Bank in Taiwan is? And they still have the Shanghai Commercial Bank in Hong Kong; their entire family is
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massive. Why is their family so wealthy ? Because back when Rong Yiren started those companies, he personally held many of the shares, so they owned shipping companies, chemical companies, oil companies, and so on. That is why people say their net worth is at least
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...although CITIC eventually... 300 billion US dollars. In the end, regarding CITIC, because they said by 2009, "Fine, if the central government wants to take it back, then take it back," so it was taken back. But the problem is they have many peripheral
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businesses that are extremely massive. So, you have a family worth 300 billion US dollars, and now they want to leave China. Do you think that doesn't have a huge impact on China? Of course, the impact is huge, which is why I say that
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, yet no one in China dares to criticize them, because if you talk about...
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No one dares. If you talk about construction, about nation-building, about the years spent with China, it was the Rong family that walked through all those years. But why do they want to leave China at this particular moment? Even when the Kuomintang was
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there and the Chinese Communist Party took over, they didn't leave. But now they want to leave, so it clearly shows that China is under immense pressure.
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Well, I didn't have a sense of exactly how much money they had, but let's look at the footage: the one in Shanghai's Jing'an District is now the CITIC headquarters, not to mention the luxurious mansions they lived in themselves. So the Rong family is truly
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deeply rooted in China. They accompanied China, as we just said, from its founding, through the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns, the Great Leap Forward, the backyard furnace movement, all the way to the Cultural Revolution. And now, a family like this is actually choosing to leave
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. Yes, if we're talking about the real "princelings," the Rong family is what you'd truly call princelings.
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What does it mean to be a princeling? Because Rong Yiren served as Vice President of China, his children and descendants are essentially benefactors to the Chinese Communist Party. It was also discovered that he himself joined the Chinese Communist Party back in
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1985. Following that, they aligned with Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening-up policy, so the entire family contributed to China's economic development. But do you know where the problem lies? For the Rong family, back in the late Qing Dynasty, they did
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something that made them true patriotic merchants. Why do we call them patriotic merchants? It's because their founder noticed—why were they called "flour tycoons" and textile magnates?
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He saw that foreign flour was being imported into China through Hong Kong, and since China was an agricultural nation, why didn't it have its own flour industry? So he founded this flour industry. After he started it, you know, after 1912—not the CCP, but
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after the Republic of China was founded —the government originally intended to take action against the Rong family.
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But what happened? As it turned out, the so-called Korean War broke out. When the Korean War began, Mao Zedong realized that for the war effort, he needed flour, clothing, and aircraft.
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So, he let the Rong family continue to operate those businesses. In reality, they became tied to "Red Capital" back then.
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So, if I want to wage war, I naturally need money and provisions; for the war effort, I need food, clothing, shelter, and transport. So, regarding these necessities, the Rong family, you help me take care of it. It was the Rong
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family that helped the Chinese Communists secure the logistics and supplies for the "War to Resist America and Aid Korea." After handling this, Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong were both very grateful to the Rong family. So, naturally, when everyone else was being
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purged, the Rong family was not. Later on, they played an even more important role in Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening-up, such as going to Hong Kong for the CITIC Group. Because there were four major groups that went to Hong
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Kong—including Yue Xiu, their national enterprises, and CITIC—they all moved over. So basically, what does this mean? It means that by relying on Hong Kong's external connections and combining them with ties in places like Shanghai, they made the whole of China
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wealthy. So, looking at the current situation, one thing has become clear: why is it that since Xi Jinping took power, they are now looking to escape to Canada?
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You say the Rong family can't stay on at all—you just mentioned that, but why do you say so? Because the Rong family has very deep connections with the entire "red second generation." This includes Wu Xiaohui, Chen Yi's son
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Chen Xiaolu, and as you just mentioned, the families of Li Peng, Wang Zhen, and Jiang Zemin; they all have deeply intertwined, inextricable ties. So if you are going to go after these families now, won't you eventually end up going after the Rong family? Exactly
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. If foreign capital enters China and then flees, we have nothing to say, because why? Because, to begin with, it belongs to foreign investors, and if we're talking about Hong Kong, they are just doing business as business. They
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might be disgusted by the Chinese Communist Party, but when this kind of "red capital," which is firmly rooted locally in China, decides to flee—and they do flee—you see that their family is very low-key, but after the moving company let it slip, everyone
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realized: so even the Rong family is moving away! That is why this is such a big deal. Yes, if even "red capital" like the Rong family can't hold on, and they feel that under Xi Jinping's administration, things flip-flop
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between loosening and tightening, how can they not feel forced to flee? That is why everyone feels that if even local assets are in such a state, won't all these other small businesses see it and run away too? So that is the
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current situation across the whole of China. Right, so as we mentioned, Xi Jinping has no intention of letting up.
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Given the current state of extreme pessimism in China and the lack of hope for the future, what did Xi say? He actually said that he has no intention of letting up, that he will continue the anti-corruption drive. He said any
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hesitation, wavering, laxity, or softness would lead to subversive mistakes. He wants to maintain high-pressure tactics, never stopping for a moment, not stepping back half a step; he intends to keep fighting.
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Right, I saw this article in the South China Morning Post today and I was surprised, because it's a simple logic: you've been fighting corruption for over a decade now, this is the third term—two terms, ten years, and now a
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third term, right? So, it has been nearly twelve or thirteen years of anti-corruption efforts. And the group of officials who were taken down when this started ten years ago—I heard the total number of officials removed reached as high as one million. If a
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million people leave their posts, a new batch will simply move up to replace them. Over a dozen years, the young become middle-aged, so it’s fair to say the officials now controlling the government are the ones produced after your anti-corruption campaign.
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Why do you still need to fight corruption? So, this is a very strange thing.
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It’s just like vaccination; didn’t you already get the shot? How can you still catch the disease?
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Exactly, so it’s simple: it shows this hasn’t been fundamentally cured, right? Like a wildfire that cannot be destroyed, the spring breeze brings it back to life. So, what kind of problem is this? It is structural, and structural problems cannot be fixed
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just by the willpower of a leader; it’s impossible. Therefore, we should say that for Xi Jinping, who rose to power through anti-corruption, at this stage, any insightful person in the world or scholar who understands China would view him as a failed leader in
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anti-corruption. Because his anti-corruption efforts have no energy left and no longer receive support. Right, nothing at all.
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And in this current situation, what is his crackdown for today? It is no longer about improvement or reform.
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Today’s crackdown is for the sake of political struggle. It’s very clear that the current anti-corruption drive is in its third term, but it’s a struggle to maintain his power, not to bring any renewed reform to the Communist Party; there is none, there
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is no action. Look at the military, it’s corrupt to this degree, and local officials, even in second-and third-tier cities, can’t even pay salaries. And the youth unemployment rate—do you know how bad it’s gotten? They don’t even dare to
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report it. Didn’t the government used to report the youth unemployment rate every year? Now it’s in the tens of millions. Why is the youth unemployment rate so important? It is far too important. Because it is the cause of
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social unrest, so they don’t even dare to talk about the current youth unemployment rate. Because the New Year is approaching fast, and furthermore, if his Third Plenary Session hasn't been held, will there be personnel changes or not? But I have heard that
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Zhang Youxia has already replaced the chief of the Central Security Bureau, the head of what you’d call the Zhongnanhai imperial guard. Replaced by Zhang Youxia’s own people.
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About Zhang Youxia's people, I've heard about it. Since many things in China rely on public information and open-source intelligence, we have to use a lot of inference. What is the actual relationship between the military and him now? Of course, the
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Rong Yiren affair is an indicator. It is a very significant indicator. Is it really that serious? Oh.
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Let me put it this way: do you think a packer just happened to discover this news and leaked it?
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Of course not. Exactly, someone leaked it. The question is who. The Communist Party leaked it themselves. And there are two ways to look at those who leaked it, right? One is to punish Rong Yiren, right? The other is to use Rong
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Yiren as a means to punish the central leadership. Right? How could you let him? How did he dare to do it so openly? It shows In our modern society, if you want to transfer assets with modern finance, what do you rely on? I'm telling you,
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you just use your phone to transfer it —click, click, click—and the whole code goes right to Switzerland.
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Do you need to pack up and move? It’s just to make you look bad. Is he short of money?
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He is not. Exactly, he’s not. It’s just making the Communist Party look bad. How can you play this game?
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So you’re saying this is the Rong family’s counterattack. Of course it is. It's not just the Rong family, but this whole group of people.
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They are all linked together—the entire group of "red descendants" and these wealthy second-generation elites who are going after you. So this is an indicator. Don’t forget this indicator. If you check his data, Forbes calculated it back in the year
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2000. It wasn't calculated by anyone else; it was China's richest person, number one. In 2000, China's richest man—that’s not Taiwan’s richest, Terry Gou. China's number one richest —I don't know how much wealth that was, but I'm telling you, it was wealth
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that couldn't even be estimated. So as we just mentioned, 300 billion USD—an astonishing 300 billion USD—would make him the richest person in the world, did you know that?
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Look at Musk, he's only worth about 300 billion USD, right? Right? So this is terrifying. Besides, China has been reforming and opening up for nearly 40 years, and for 20 of those years, it has just been corruption. That is why their country,
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up to this day, cannot establish social welfare. Why is the country broke? Where did the money go? Corruption is largely caused by unequal wealth distribution, leading to the current predicament. Therefore, when Xi Jinping announced at the CCDI plenary session
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that he would step up anti-corruption efforts, I see it as a move intended for domestic consumption. Ah.
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He's just making a declaration; he can't actually pull it off. Right. He can't do it, because it's very simple now—the pressure from the United States is coming immediately.
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What kind of energy do you have to face US pressure? The conflict between China and the US is about to begin. Whenever Trump says someone is his good friend, that person ends up in trouble.
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Whenever Trump emphasizes that someone is a good friend of his—he said Kim Jong-un was a good friend, Putin was a good friend—which one of them didn't end up in trouble? They were all targeted by Trump, so the disasters
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ahead will be even more dangerous after he takes office. No, who would have thought that China's premier family, the Rong family, would actually be leaving? Only now do you realize what a colossal event this is for China.
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Beyond the rumors that the third generation of the Rong family might be targeted, the most terrifying thing is that China's economy is beyond saving; it will only go from bad to worse. The withdrawal of the Rong family signifies
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that private entrepreneurs in China have absolutely no opportunity and no hope left. Because back in the day, Deng Xiaoping specifically invited Rong Yiren out to build trust with the outside world, convincing the globe that China's reform and opening-up was genuine.
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That's how they brought in foreign capital to develop China's economy; that’s how the path of the last 50 years was paved.
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The Rong family was so influential that foreigners would trust them. Yes, they still have assets in Taiwan to this day . The Shanghai Commercial&Savings Bank is theirs, and the Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government after the February 28 Incident was the Rong
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family's brother-in-law. Mao Zedong once said that the Rong family was the only one in China that could be called a financial conglomerate.
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Their family even served as Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government. Wei Tao-ming, the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government, was his brother-in-law.
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Wei Tao... To this day, the Shanghai Commercial& Savings Bank is still the Wei family's —or rather, the Rong family's. Plus, in Taiwan, you can see that the China Travel Service is also the Wei family's . The China Travel Service is their
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family's. So, how does Xi Jinping evaluate this? So, is the land for that Taroko Gorge hotel, the Tien Hsiang Lodge, theirs?
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Yes, of course it's theirs, the Rong family's. Mao Zedong said that among all the people in China, only the Rong family could be called a financial conglomerate. During the Republic of China era, half of China relied on him
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for food and clothing, yet during the Cultural Revolution, his fingers were broken, he was blinded in one eye, and he was forced to clean toilets, scrubbing them until they shone, which was truly miserable. You were the richest man in China, yet your fingers
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were broken, you were forced to scrub toilets, and you were blinded in one eye; his suffering during the Cultural Revolution was extreme. When Chiang Ching-kuo was "fighting tigers" in Shanghai, he targeted the Rong family.
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His diary even mentioned traveling to Wuxi, where the Rong family built their fortune; half of Wuxi belonged to them, a fact recorded in Chiang Ching-kuo’s diary. Half of Wuxi was owned by their family. When Chiang Ching-kuo was cracking down on corruption and
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speculators in Shanghai, he went to Wuxi to investigate, which is how he witnessed just how wealthy the Rong family really was. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as Deputy Mayor of Shanghai and Vice Chairman of the CPPCC. Later,
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during the Cultural Revolution, he was sent to clean toilets and coal pits, scrubbing the toilets until they were spotless, even using hydrochloric acid to get them clean. However, when China launched the Reform and Opening-up, and Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun returned to
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power, they hosted a "hot pot banquet for old elders," which actually changed the course of China's economic development. Why change this economic development? He invited five major elders, most importantly to ask Rong Yiren to establish the China International Trust and Investment
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Corporation (CITIC), to convince the world that the reforms were real and to leverage international power, as the Rong family still held vast assets overseas. So why is it called the " International" Trust and Investment Corporation? Why were those two words
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added to the front? Deng Xiaoping actually played a trick on him; China wouldn't give him money, so he had to borrow from abroad. That’s how the money was raised to start CITIC; I’ll give you the brand name, but you have
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to secure all the funding yourself. The words "International" had to be added to the name of CITIC Group because the funds could not be raised within China.
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So the first loan was 10 billion yen borrowed from Japan’s Nomura to save a Shanghai chemical plant; from then on , this model of borrowing foreign capital to develop CITIC was established. That is what built CITIC Pacific, one of China's four major
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financial conglomerates today. China's entire economy today revolves around these four major conglomerates, and then there is CITIC Pacific; so with him gone, is there any hope left for China's private entrepreneurs? Foreign capital can still trust China, because he was brought in to attract foreign
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investment and make the world believe that reform and opening-up is real. That was what Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun intended, so his departure is a very serious matter. I didn't realize it was this serious until you mentioned it, and we now see people in China
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saying, "I have a master's degree from Tsinghua, what am I doing?""I'm working as a cleaner. I have a master's degree in finance, so why am I delivering food ?" They all...and another thing is, what about those investment banks from
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before? Investment banks were always flush with cash, but he said they've long since folded, so what does the Long family represent? China's investment, China's trust; CITIC's business is investing in and leasing to China's real estate and financial sectors. The sectors suffering the most
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right now are finance and real estate. Look at the unemployment wave; the construction industry has lost at least 10 million jobs in five years, and finance has lost 5 million. What is collapsing the most in China now? Banks
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and investment banks have already started to collapse, not to mention the rest. In the past five years in China, the financial sector has lost 5.8 million people, and the residential construction industry has lost 10 million. The construction industry
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collapsed first, and its bad debts spilled over to the banks. That’s why thousands of small and medium-sized banks in China are now failing; it’s a total collapse. China's big banks, like CITIC, are major institutions, so why can't they continue to operate?
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They see a total collapse, and bank failures are catastrophic. So, when banks fail, what happens? The post-90s and post-95s generation are just like the migrant workers of the past, cleaning toilets at 37 years old after working in investment banking. What are
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they doing there? They have no jobs. How glamorous life used to be in investment banking; you could be as rich as you wanted. Now, they spend every day pretending to work at Starbucks. There are too many companies where people just pretend to work;
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that's what investment banking has become. Since the entire investment landscape is gone, the Long family sees the reality of the overall macro environment. Is there any hope left for China's private economy? There is no hope. You cannot become a wealthy
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family or a "red capitalist" anymore; those days are gone. Everyone should get out as fast as they can. So, investment banks are laying people off, and the state of the financial industry is such that the living are no
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different from the dead. Even worse, you can see the numbers; the poorer the economy gets, the more your foreign reserves drop. They've fallen by 2 trillion, and the Wall Street Journal is terrified now. What does this mean?
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China's foreign exchange exports are losing money, and it's hard for them to collect funds, so foreign They lost two trillion NTD last year.
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The value has been continuously dropping, which means from real estate to finance to investment, no one is investing; private and international sectors have lost confidence.
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Right, as we just mentioned, the current economic collapse in China is even more terrifying; look at everyone in the back shouting to turn off the music.
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They are shouting "release them," and it's not just a few people, it's 50,000 people. Where is this happening? This is actually happening in Xi Jinping's hometown of Shaanxi. Yes, this is in Xi Jinping's hometown of Shaanxi. What is
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the reason for this? It's because at a vocational school, a child was bullied, then allegedly jumped off a building.
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After the jump, when his mother was called to the school, all the evidence showed that he had many other bruises, but she wasn't allowed to see the body, only allowed to see his face. At that time, his uncle came forward, but he
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was taken away. The reason so many people took to the streets to support the family is that many things are being covered up and hidden from the public, which is why you see over 50,000 people on the streets in Pucheng
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, Shaanxi. Where exactly is Pucheng? To the west of Pucheng is Xi Jinping's hometown, Fuping County, which means such a massive mass incident is occurring in Xi Jinping's home territory. As for this mass incident, even the local police and public
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security could only use tear gas or rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, and they still couldn't get it under control. But people are wondering, why are these mass incidents and bullying cases happening all over mainland China ? In fact, some scholars have analyzed
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that because the Communist Party demands that everyone engage in struggle, this atmosphere of violence has actually spread throughout mainland China. Look at this little girl, she's covered in blood; this beating was truly violent. It's because, you know, in China, when these kinds of bullying
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incidents can't be resolved, coupled with the overall economic downturn, you can see that under Xi Jinping's rule, crowds of protesters are now appearing all over China. And we know that basically, all they are hoping for is to seek the truth and seek fairness. So
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many things are happening at the same time. For example, there was a girl last year named Li Xue, who is actually from Jiangxi. She essentially accused the public security police of molesting her, and because of this, she was
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labeled as mentally ill, you know? So she ended up being taken to a so-called psychiatric hospital, and since then, she has completely vanished into thin air, and now she can't get out. Of course, she hopes for everyone's support online, and naturally, people
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are supporting her, that's true, but what’s the problem? These public security police basically covered up all the relevant facts and told everyone that she was diagnosed by a doctor as...such a pretty, young girl, such a pretty girl, she was essentially
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targeted by an officer. After he set his sights on her, he started molesting her, and after he laid his hands on her , she was unhappy. She was upset and said, "I'm going to report the police, how could you molest me?" So she went
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to report the official. She reported him, and this happened in 2022, yet she was inexplicably thrown into a psychiatric hospital. She said that once she was locked in the psychiatric hospital, she realized there were many others like her, with no reason at all,
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and without needing any evidence. She said if they want to throw you in jail today, they still have to go through some judicial procedures, but if they want to throw you in a mental hospital, a single word from the police is enough
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. Right, so people say that only the Chinese Communist Party can tell you exactly what kind of sickness you have, whether you are mentally ill or what kind of condition you have. So you see now, this Li Yi, basically, she has
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disappeared from the face of the earth. She is gone, and what was leaked before from what she wrote online was all her exposing them. And you know how terrifying that is, right? While he was imprisoned, because someone understood
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his situation, he said he was locked up and accused of serious crimes; he was put in solitary confinement in a private cell, and then he was used for human experimentation. Human experimentation for what? He was injected and tested with drugs; after
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being injected and drugged, he underwent a terrifying electroconvulsive therapy, which was basically, "I electrocute you, and I make you repent." He said this is how they deal with Kim Jong-un types; not only do they seize your finances illegally, they even take over all your
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assets. He was imprisoned starting in 2022, and after he was released, he began blowing the whistle. Then, last December, over a dozen people stormed his livestream; he was taken away and has since vanished without a trace. Yes , look at this person. He’s 20 years
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old, a student at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics; he basically has a higher education and is knowledgeable . Yet you can see he actually listed many names of police officers who subjected him to brutal harassment, abuse, or even arrested him, and he
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leaked what they did to him after they took him. But this person, precisely because he exposed all this, was taken away by the police, and to this day, his whereabouts are unknown, and no one knows where he’s gone. Well, in China
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, you can’t report this, he’s been buried in this so-called dark world, but in Taiwan, we can certainly talk about who did this. What is this called ? Deputy Lai Zhenji of the Dinggong Road Police Station, Deputy Director
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Lai Shenxiang of the Xihu District Justice Bureau in Nanchang, Officer Lai Pengliang of the Shigang Police Station of the Nanchang Public Security Bureau Xinjian Branch, Captain Lai Guoping of the Nanchang Public Security Brigade, and Third-level Researcher Lai Zhe of
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the Nanchang Prison Administration. So many grown men bullying one young girl, and now this young girl is pleading for help while we face a forced disappearance. International politics, military, finance—Critical Moment continues to create the most exciting content for you. Thank you so much for
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your support and encouragement along the way, and now we just need you; join our YouTube membership immediately and become the number one fan of Critical Moment. Join as a "Fact Observer" to receive an exclusive honorary badge.
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Topics:Xi JinpingAnti-corruptionHuang QifanShanghai GangJiang ZeminRong familyChinese politicsFifth Plenary SessionPolitical purgeChinese elite
