Aric Chen
@aricchen • 53,724 subscribers
Independent analysis on China, US-Asia & global affairs. Executive producer, senior editor & anchor. Foreign policy think tank mentor. Notes: @AricChenJournal
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![[ Field Footage ] A heart-wrenching scene captured on surveillance footage in China! An elderly person was swept away by floodwaters at home and has not returned, the outlook is grim! Every flood season, we see such despairing scenes! But these images are shared by relatives, and the Chinese Communist Party absolutely does not want the outside world to see them. Wishing everyone in the disaster-stricken areas safety and well-being! And these harrowing images that have managed to leak out are just the tip of the iceberg of what’s actually happening inside China! No matter when they were released, those of us overseas have a duty to keep sharing them so that more people can see them!](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2076185855291539543/amplify_video_thumb/2076185301412651008/img/-FwS-qUEMGACDje6.jpg)
[ Field Footage ] A heart-wrenching scene captured on surveillance footage in China! An elderly person was swept away by floodwaters at home and has not returned, the outlook is grim! Every flood season, we see such despairing scenes! But these images are shared by relatives, and the Chinese Communist Party absolutely does not want the outside world to see them. Wishing everyone in the disaster-stricken areas safety and well-being! And these harrowing images that have managed to leak out are just the tip of the iceberg of what’s actually happening inside China! No matter when they were released, those of us overseas have a duty to keep sharing them so that more people can see them!
Aric Chen1,672,614 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
![[ Field Footage ] The massive flooding in Guangxi has been devastating! The Chinese Communist Party’s inadequate early warnings and disregard for the risk of dam breaches have led to many victims losing their homes and loved ones! After the floodwaters receded, seeing their homes reduced to ruins, the survivors didn’t know whether to be relieved to be alive or to continue grieving.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2076183617085018138/amplify_video_thumb/2076183550559207424/img/1bBtNxFav4sTgPE9.jpg)
[ Field Footage ] The massive flooding in Guangxi has been devastating! The Chinese Communist Party’s inadequate early warnings and disregard for the risk of dam breaches have led to many victims losing their homes and loved ones! After the floodwaters receded, seeing their homes reduced to ruins, the survivors didn’t know whether to be relieved to be alive or to continue grieving.
Aric Chen1,523,565 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
🚨 Shocking video exposes a tiny spy camera hidden in a public toilet stall — red recording light glowing right in the floor grout. This is rampant across CCP China. Public restrooms, changing rooms… and especially hotels are packed with hidden cameras feeding a massive spycam porn black market. Always inspect every inch before using ANY facility. Your privacy is under constant threat. Stay vigilant! #HiddenCameras #ChinaSpyCams
Aric Chen4,299,110 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten
🚨💔 Heartbreaking tragedy unfolds in China again. On May 3, a female tourist named Liu died in a horrific accident at Maliuyan Adventure Park in Sichuan’s Huaying City. Strapped into the “Waterfall Swing” — a 168-meter-high ride over a roaring waterfall — she repeatedly screamed “It’s not tied tight!” twice as staff ignored her and pushed her off the platform. She plummeted, slammed into the cliff, and was pronounced dead on the way to hospital. This wasn’t bad luck. It was preventable negligence. Once more, China’s booming adventure tourism industry puts profit before people, cutting corners on safety checks, training, and basic equipment. How many more lives must be lost before authorities treat human safety as a priority instead of an afterthought? My deepest condolences to Liu’s family and friends. No one should ever have to beg for their life on a paid attraction — only to be ignored. Enough is enough. Safety cannot keep being sacrificed for tourism dollars. 💔 #ChinaSafetyCrisis #AdventureTourism #RestInPeace
Aric Chen2,059,309 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten
![[ Field Footage ] 🚨 Continuous heavy rainfall in Guangxi has triggered widespread flooding across multiple areas. Several local reservoirs have successively faced critical situations, with the Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou City developing an approximately 50-meter breach in its dam body. This has caused severe flooding in multiple downstream townships, sweeping away many people. According to survivors, people had long been aware of the dam’s precarious condition, but the authorities turned a blind eye and covered it up, ultimately leading to the dam’s collapse and a catastrophic flood that submerged the area. In other cases, reservoirs released floodwaters without issuing warnings, causing disasters. Commentator Wang Yajun analyzed: For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party governments at all levels have habitually chosen to release floodwaters around 2 a.m. There are two reasons for this. First, it is easier for entire families — and even entire villages — to be wiped out while they are asleep, thereby eliminating any future troubles. Second, by the time it gets light, the work of destroying corpses and covering up the evidence can be largely completed, preventing the information from leaking out. This is an extremely sharp and incisive interpretation that exposes the evil essence of the Chinese Communist Party, which has always regarded human lives as worthless as blades of grass. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2074347896187568130/amplify_video_thumb/2074346511022874624/img/f8hvKzIF-Kb0kBs9.jpg)
[ Field Footage ] 🚨 Continuous heavy rainfall in Guangxi has triggered widespread flooding across multiple areas. Several local reservoirs have successively faced critical situations, with the Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou City developing an approximately 50-meter breach in its dam body. This has caused severe flooding in multiple downstream townships, sweeping away many people. According to survivors, people had long been aware of the dam’s precarious condition, but the authorities turned a blind eye and covered it up, ultimately leading to the dam’s collapse and a catastrophic flood that submerged the area. In other cases, reservoirs released floodwaters without issuing warnings, causing disasters. Commentator Wang Yajun analyzed: For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party governments at all levels have habitually chosen to release floodwaters around 2 a.m. There are two reasons for this. First, it is easier for entire families — and even entire villages — to be wiped out while they are asleep, thereby eliminating any future troubles. Second, by the time it gets light, the work of destroying corpses and covering up the evidence can be largely completed, preventing the information from leaking out. This is an extremely sharp and incisive interpretation that exposes the evil essence of the Chinese Communist Party, which has always regarded human lives as worthless as blades of grass. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights
Aric Chen195,415 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
In May, President Trump flew to Beijing, where Xi Jinping was the host and the choreography was his. On September 24, Xi gets one day in Washington and sets none of it. That asymmetry explains this week's reporting better than the headline on it does. The South China Morning Post reported on August 15 that Chinese officials, six weeks out, still had not identified anyone in Washington running the arrangements, and that Beijing saw little progress on deliverables. Read that as a Beijing anxiety report rather than a Washington status report. What Chinese officials are really saying is that they cannot buy certainty this time. Politico has the itinerary from four people familiar with it. Xi arrives the evening of the 23rd, talks at the White House on the 24th, and leaves on the 25th. He is skipping the UN General Assembly debate that opens on the 22nd, and that omission is the most revealing detail of the whole trip. UNGA week means open press, protesters within camera range, other leaders working their own agendas, and questions nobody hands him in advance. One room, one host, two nights, then home. His last state visit was 2015: a week on the ground, Seattle, Boeing, Microsoft, a state dinner, days of managed imagery. This one is a day trip with a bed. One thing I will not repeat yet. I have found no evidence to support the claim now circulating that the trip gets postponed at the last minute, pushed past the midterms, or cancelled over Taiwan. What I would watch is whether Beijing keeps leaking complaints about the planning. That is usually how it lowers expectations before a visit that will not produce the pictures it wanted. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights
Aric Chen17,115 Aufrufe • vor 4 Tagen
🇯🇵Japanese Civility vs. the Erosion of Tradition: A Tale of Two Cultures! Japanese fans have long been admired worldwide for a simple yet profound act of responsibility. After soccer or baseball matches, they routinely stay behind to collect every piece of trash, wipe down seats, and leave stadiums cleaner than they found them. This is not a publicity stunt but a deeply ingrained cultural habit. From elementary school onward, Japanese children learn to clean their classrooms and shared spaces. Concepts like mottainai—a sense of regret over waste—and respect for public property shape daily life. The result is visible discipline: orderly queues, low litter, and a collective understanding that one’s actions affect the community. In 2026, as the World Cup unfolds, this tradition continues to earn global praise. It reflects a society that values self-reliance, harmony, and personal accountability over convenience. The contrast with many mainland Chinese and Chinese tourists is striking and frequently documented. In popular destinations in China and across Asia, Europe, and beyond, reports and videos often show groups leaving behind piles of food wrappers, plastic bottles, and discarded items in parks, beaches, and landmarks. While not every individual behaves this way, the pattern has become noticeable enough to prompt complaints from local authorities and other visitors. This behavior clashes sharply with Japan’s approach and raises uncomfortable questions about differing standards of public conduct. These differences are not rooted in ethnicity or inherent national character. Chinese civilization once emphasized Confucian principles of propriety (li 禮), harmony, and self-cultivation. Filial piety, respect for elders, and communal responsibility formed the moral foundation for centuries. However, under decades of CCP rule, these traditions faced systematic attack. The Cultural Revolution explicitly targeted the “Four Olds”—old ideas, culture, customs, and habits—destroying temples, burning books, and persecuting intellectuals and traditional practitioners. Subsequent policies prioritized class struggle, ideological conformity, and rapid material development over moral education. The result, observable in parts of mainland society today, includes weakened social trust, a focus on personal gain, and diminished regard for shared spaces. State propaganda and education have often emphasized collective loyalty to the Party rather than individual virtue or universal ethics. When people grow up without strong reinforcement of personal responsibility, public behavior can suffer. By comparison, overseas Chinese communities—in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong’s earlier era, and diaspora populations worldwide—have largely preserved traditional values. Emphasis on education, family cohesion, hard work, and courteous conduct remains prominent. Many excel in business and academia precisely because these cultural strengths were not uprooted by the same ideological campaigns. Their reputation for civility and reliability often stands in positive contrast to reports from the mainland. Japan demonstrates what is possible when a culture actively nurtures discipline and respect across generations. Its success is not accidental but the product of consistent education and societal norms that survived modernization. China’s challenges with public conduct in some contexts stem less from the people themselves than from governance that disrupted the transmission of civilizational values. Restoring emphasis on traditional ethics—personal accountability, respect for others, and care for shared environments—could help bridge the gap, regardless of political system. The Japanese example offers a clear lesson: civilization is not inherited automatically. It must be taught, practiced, and protected. When ideology supplants tradition, the human cost appears in everyday manners and public spaces. When culture is preserved, the results speak for themselves through quiet acts like cleaning up after oneself. The choice between these paths remains one of the most important facing any society.
Aric Chen173,587 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten
Under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Chinese people are suffering immensely, with countless lives in despair. Millions are now homeless, sleeping rough on streets, under bridges, and in parks across major cities. Shockingly, recent estimates indicate that China’s homeless population has surged to around 24–50 million — a more than fivefold increase since 2020 — with over 60% being young people under the age of 33.5. These are not just the elderly or traditional vagrants, but a growing wave of young graduates, laid-off workers, and migrant laborers crushed by sky-high youth unemployment (still hovering near 17% officially, with real figures likely higher), stagnant wages, unaffordable urban housing, and a collapsing job market amid economic decline. While the CCP boasts of “prosperity” and “common prosperity,” reality tells a different story: young people who once dreamed of a better future are now forced to “lie flat,” deliver food on scooters, or huddle on sidewalks just to survive. The regime’s policies — from zero-COVID fallout to crackdowns on private enterprise and massive debt — have left an entire generation without hope or shelter. This is the true face of life under CCP rule: 民不聊生 (the people have no means to live). The propaganda cannot hide the human cost any longer. The world needs to see the suffering of China’s youth and the failure of authoritarian control. Share if you care about truth and human dignity. #ChinaHomelessCrisis #YouthDespair #CCPReality #RealChina #EndCCP
Aric Chen | Insights300,421 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten
Oh look, the mighty CCP issued a “stern warning” that Chinese ships would sail through the Strait of Hormuz no problem — “don’t you dare mess with us!” Fast forward: two Chinese oil tankers just got turned away like lost delivery boys, hiding behind fake flags from landlocked countries (Malawi and Botswana, because nothing says “global superpower” like pretending your tanker is from a nation with zero coastline). President Trump’s navy blockade is working, Iran’s oil revenue is choking, and Beijing is quietly seething while 40-50% of its oil supply gets rerouted or parked. “Rules-based international order” only applies when the rules favor the Communist Party, huh? Classic CCP: all bark, no strait. Check Jack Bradley’s report for the MarineTraffic receipts. The face-slap is glorious. #EndCCP #CCP #Hormuz
Aric Chen311,854 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten
🚨 She Walked Into NATO's Headquarters, and Someone Was Watching Back A Chinese-Canadian woman in her thirties, an AI specialist fluent in Mandarin and English, cleared the vetting and landed an internship inside SHAPE, NATO's supreme military command in Belgium. Then Belgian police arrested her. Prosecutors say she allegedly spied for a "third country" and belonged to a criminal organization. Investigators searched her home and her desk inside the alliance's nerve center. Officials have pointedly refused to name the country. But reporting, and decades of pattern, point in one direction — Beijing. Why does an intern matter? Because, investigators note, someone in that seat could hand a hostile state a goldmine: names and identities of personnel, internal security procedures, building floor plans, guard routes, even the location of surveillance cameras. And here's the part that should keep you up at night,her internship was approved. She cleared the checks. She walked in the front door. If this alarms you, it should. And if the allegations hold, it isn't an anomaly. It's the pattern. For decades the Chinese Communist Party has treated open societies as hunting grounds. Students, researchers, "interns," and dual nationals have been documented as quiet collectors, feeding sensitive information back to Beijing's intelligence machine. The West called it "engagement." The CCP called it opportunity, and walked through the doors we held open. The scandal isn't that one case slipped through. It's that the system was built to be trusting, and a hostile authoritarian regime studied that trust and weaponized it, betting free nations would rather look away than offend Beijing. That bet has paid off for far too long. Every case like this is a warning we keep failing to heed. Until governments, lawmakers, and citizens treat CCP infiltration as the reality it is, the next intern is already on the way in. The door is still open. Who's watching it? ACI — Aric Chen | Insights Editor’s note: The video is a related news segment from the World News I anchor. The interviewee is the well-known commentator Ms. Sheng Xue 盛雪SHENG Xue .
Aric Chen58,702 Aufrufe • vor 23 Tagen
🚨 Two Chinese Sailors Died Ramming Manila’s Boat. Beijing Hid It for a Year. On August 11, 2025, in broad daylight and calm seas off Scarborough Shoal, China Coast Guard (CCG) cutter 3104 slammed into the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 052D destroyer Guilin (hull 164) at high speed. Both were chasing the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel BRP Suluan, a 44-meter Parola-class patrol vessel on a lawful resupply mission inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone. Philippine video captured the 3104’s bow crumpling ten meters inward. Four CCG sailors visible on that bow moments earlier were gone. Beijing said nothing. CCG spokesman Gan Yu called it “professional, regulated, and legitimate.” Censors scrubbed the footage from Weibo. Filipino radio calls offering medical aid went unanswered. Guilin kept chasing the Suluan before limping away for repairs at Yulin Naval Base. A year later, the cover-up cracked. On August 5, 2026, state broadcaster China National Radio’s (CNR) military channel posthumously named four “martyrs” as “Loyal Guardians of the China Armed Police”. The Ministry of Veterans Affairs martyr database confirms two, Yi Xinyu (born 2003) and Cheng Long (born 2000), were killed on August 11, 2025 during “frontline rights protection operations” in the South China Sea. Beijing’s own paperwork betrayed the story it spent a year burying. This was not seamanship. Since 2018, the CCG has reported through the People’s Armed Police (PAP) to the Central Military Commission (CMC). Two ships coordinating a high-speed block against a civilian resupply run is an ordered operation, not a rogue captain. The world responded. Then-US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson condemned the “reckless action.” Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union raised alarm. Two days later, USS Higgins and USS Cincinnati sailed Scarborough Shoal on a freedom of navigation operation. Beijing killed two of its own to intimidate a neighbor, then hid the bodies until its own paperwork told on it. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights
Aric Chen33,273 Aufrufe • vor 16 Tagen
🚨 Somewhere in Zhongnanhai tonight, Xi Jinping is staring at these videos. Lee Jae-myung — South Korea's center-left president, the one Beijing thought would tilt their way — hugging Takaichi at a hotel door in Andong. Sky-blue tie matched to her suit. Their 4th summit in 6 months. "Hometown shuttle diplomacy," now fully established. Zoom out: 🇺🇸 Trump called Tokyo from Air Force One 🇹🇼 Lai: "Taiwan will not be sacrificed" 🇵🇭 Marcos to Japanese media: PH "has no choice" on Taiwan 🇯🇵🇰🇷 Lee + Takaichi: locked in 🇷🇺 Putin: rushed to Beijing for photos 5 democracies. 5 capitals. 5 days. In perfect sequence. The encirclement isn't coming. It's here. And the man watching most nervously from Zhongnanhai knows it. Xi sees it. He can't stop it. 👇
Aric Chen152,248 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten
![[ Field Footage ] The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) released floodwaters without any warning, sweeping away countless people and causing major casualties and loss of life. After the flood receded in affected areas, the scene is one of utter devastation — homes destroyed, infrastructure ruined. These regions now face at least two years of painful reconstruction and urgent epidemic prevention. Residents are bravely clearing the ruins with their bare hands. There is an old saying: “After a great flood comes a great plague.” I pray that the disaster-stricken areas will be spared from another tragedy. Critical epidemic prevention reminder for flood-hit regions: Major floods almost always bring waterborne and infectious diseases due to contaminated water, poor sanitation, and destroyed infrastructure. Do not take this lightly: - Never drink or use untreated floodwater — boil it thoroughly or use proper purification tablets/filters. - Practice strict hand hygiene and personal cleanliness at all times. - Dispose of garbage and human waste properly to prevent contamination of water sources. - Control mosquitoes, rats, and other disease vectors immediately. - Watch closely for symptoms such as fever, severe diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, skin infections, or respiratory issues — seek medical help right away if they appear. - Vulnerable groups (children, elderly, pregnant women) need extra protection and monitoring. The CCP’s failure to issue timely warnings has already cost innocent lives. The Chinese people deserve transparent governance, real accountability, and competent disaster management, not cover-ups and preventable tragedies. Pray for the victims and survivors. Stay vigilant. Prioritize epidemic prevention now, or the suffering will only get worse. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2076823090773000344/amplify_video_thumb/2076822591520530432/img/KgoCNeKYXfy6l9gG.jpg)
[ Field Footage ] The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) released floodwaters without any warning, sweeping away countless people and causing major casualties and loss of life. After the flood receded in affected areas, the scene is one of utter devastation — homes destroyed, infrastructure ruined. These regions now face at least two years of painful reconstruction and urgent epidemic prevention. Residents are bravely clearing the ruins with their bare hands. There is an old saying: “After a great flood comes a great plague.” I pray that the disaster-stricken areas will be spared from another tragedy. Critical epidemic prevention reminder for flood-hit regions: Major floods almost always bring waterborne and infectious diseases due to contaminated water, poor sanitation, and destroyed infrastructure. Do not take this lightly: - Never drink or use untreated floodwater — boil it thoroughly or use proper purification tablets/filters. - Practice strict hand hygiene and personal cleanliness at all times. - Dispose of garbage and human waste properly to prevent contamination of water sources. - Control mosquitoes, rats, and other disease vectors immediately. - Watch closely for symptoms such as fever, severe diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, skin infections, or respiratory issues — seek medical help right away if they appear. - Vulnerable groups (children, elderly, pregnant women) need extra protection and monitoring. The CCP’s failure to issue timely warnings has already cost innocent lives. The Chinese people deserve transparent governance, real accountability, and competent disaster management, not cover-ups and preventable tragedies. Pray for the victims and survivors. Stay vigilant. Prioritize epidemic prevention now, or the suffering will only get worse. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights
Aric Chen59,615 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
🚨 The CCP Targeted President Trump, But Its Real Target Was American Democracy The Chinese Communist Party did not merely target a presidential candidate. It allegedly built a coordinated campaign to exploit American voter data, pressure American industries, cultivate influential elites and manipulate the information environment surrounding a U.S. election. President Donald Trump has now dragged that operation into the light. In a nationally televised address, Trump revealed newly declassified intelligence concerning China’s acquisition of approximately 220 million American voter files. The records reportedly included names, addresses, telephone numbers, ages and political affiliations—information capable of mapping the electorate. This was strategic data collection. In the hands of an authoritarian intelligence apparatus, voter information can identify political loyalties, locate vulnerable communities, refine propaganda, facilitate cyberattacks and provide the raw material for influence operations. The most explosive evidence goes beyond the databases. A newly declassified CIA note summarizing sensitive intelligence from 2018 through 2020 reported that CCP policy was to mobilize domestic and foreign forces opposed to Trump, reduce his electoral support, force his resignation or prevent his re-election. The document described a comprehensive pressure campaign. Beijing allegedly studied states and economic sectors that supported Trump, then considered using tariffs to impose financial pain and push affected industries to lobby the White House. Chinese officials reportedly sought to pressure donors in political swing states and use contracts with American companies to turn business leaders against the president. The influence network reached deeper. According to the CIA note, Beijing cultivated think-tank officials, academics and former government employees with speaking engagements, first-class travel and accommodations. The objective was brutally simple: get influential Americans “hooked on China,” then use financial dependence to shape their behavior. Most disturbing was the media strategy. The intelligence reported that Chinese officials sought to identify American journalists who had written negatively about Trump and pay them to produce additional hostile coverage. If substantiated, this was not journalism. It was a foreign authoritarian regime attempting to purchase influence over what Americans read, believed and ultimately decided at the ballot box. Trump’s first administration ended decades of failed accommodation that allowed the CCP to expand its wealth, power and access to Western institutions. He confronted Beijing over trade, technology, espionage and strategic domination. The newly released intelligence offers a chilling explanation for why the Party wanted him politically weakened. The threat points directly to Xi Jinping’s party-state. Whether every operational detail carried Xi’s personal signature is not established publicly, but nothing of this scale exists outside the CCP’s centralized system of control. This is the significance of Trump’s disclosure: China’s campaign was not simply about defeating one man. It was about demonstrating that Beijing could collect American data, exploit American divisions and recruit American influence to advance Communist Party objectives. Congress must investigate every intermediary, financial channel, suspected media connection and compromised institution. Voter databases must be hardened, foreign funding exposed and covert influence networks dismantled. America’s message to Xi Jinping is unmistakable: the CCP will not be permitted to purchase America’s elites, weaponize its data or manipulate its democratic future from the shadows. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights
Aric Chen52,622 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
Rare: Japan Just Released Its First-Ever Video of China's Liaoning Carrier. Beijing's Story Collapses on Camera. For the first time on record, Japan's Ministry of Defense (MOD) has publicly released video footage of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning under close Japanese surveillance in the Western Pacific. The Joint Staff Office of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) posted the clip on July 3, breaking with decades of quiet monitoring practice. The footage documents Liaoning's activity in late May and June, when the carrier and its escorts transited the Miyako Strait, ran flight operations near Okinotorishima and Minamitorishima, and racked up over 170 fighter and helicopter sorties in just three days between May 26 and 28. Across the full 40-day deployment from May 19 to June 22, JSDF destroyers including JS Asahi, maritime patrol aircraft, and Air Self-Defense Force fighters shadowed the strike group. The Japanese cameras were rolling the whole time. Beijing tried to sell a very different story. State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) claimed the Liaoning had "warned off" Japanese warships and surveillance planes, and released its own edited footage framing Chinese professionalism against alleged Japanese provocation. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MND) called Japan's monitoring "outrageously audacious" and accused JSDF forces of running simulated attack drills against the carrier. That narrative required the audience to never see what Japan actually saw: the deck cycles, the launches, the escorts, the entire carrier group in Japanese crosshairs from the East China Sea through the Second Island Chain. Now Japan has put it on the table. The Joint Staff Office rarely releases moving imagery of foreign warships, and it explained the break in convention as an effort to help the public understand the daily reality of the JSDF's national defense mission. The message travels well past Japan. Every ally reading the file now has visual confirmation that Tokyo tracked Liaoning through the entire deployment, exactly during the period the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda apparatus was insisting Japan had been "warned off." That model of storytelling only works when the tape stays in the vault. Japan just released the tape. Note: The video below is my broadcast anchoring this story on air. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights
Aric Chen62,300 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
This is the real China. In a Zhejiang, China classroom, a young girl suddenly fainted and collapsed to the floor. Nearly 20 classmates saw it happen — many kept drawing, none helped her or even alerted the teacher. The teacher remained unaware. In CCP China, “not my business” is the norm. Everyone fears getting into trouble, so society drowns in chilling indifference. This is the “harmonious” society they built. 😔 #China #CCPSociety #RealChina #EndCCP #CCP
Aric Chen148,500 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten
💔🏙️ The daily reality for China’s migrant workers is brutal: overcrowded, unsafe dorms and miserable living conditions that no human should endure. This is the suffering Chinese people — the real China the Communist Party desperately tries to hide from the world. While the CCP constantly paints a picture of prosperity and the “Chinese Dream,” they are desperately whitewashing the truth. This is the real hardship of China’s working class. #RealChina #ChinaLabor #MigrantWorkers #CCPLies #China
Aric Chen | Insights122,929 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten
🚨The HIMARS at the Foot of Fuji Was Not a Drill. It Was a Message. Three signals from three cities. One target. One 24-hour window. Beijing was always going to hear it. Just after 2 p.m. Tokyo time on Wednesday, a platoon of about fifty U.S. Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment — Okinawa-based, ordinarily stationed within sight of the Taiwan Strait — rolled two HIMARS launchers onto the East Fuji Maneuver Area and fired two salvos. Six rockets. Pause. Six more. The launchers then did what they were built to do: pulled back from the firing line and disappeared. The Marines call this "shoot and scoot." In the age of cheap drones and counter-battery radar, it is no longer a clever tactic — it is the difference between a launcher that fights tomorrow and a launcher that is a smoking ruin within ninety seconds. The Pentagon framed the exercise in routine terms. Live-fire training. Readiness. Allied interoperability. "Reinforcing our commitment to regional security and the defense of Japan," the division spokesman wrote in his April briefing email. Many legacy media outlets reported it as a drill. Second consecutive year at this location. Nothing to see. That framing is technically correct and strategically blind. Because of what else happened on May 20. In Taipei, Lai Ching-te marked his second anniversary in office, halfway through his term, with a press conference reaffirming that Taiwan's future will not be decided by external forces and that arms procurement from the United States is essential to peace. In Washington, president Donald Trump walked onto the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews and told reporters he would speak with Lai personally — the first sitting U.S. president-to-sitting Taiwanese president call since the United States switched recognition to Beijing in 1979. And in Shizuoka Prefecture, on a maneuver area visible to local farmers and a 72-year-old former Japanese soldier watching from a hilltop in Gotemba, twelve American rockets arced into the foothills of Japan's most photographed mountain. Three events. Three cities. Same calendar day. You can call that coincidence if you want. The people who plan exercises eighteen months in advance, coordinate them with Japan's Ministry of Defense by formal email in April, and clear them with three different theater command headquarters do not believe in that kind of coincidence. Here is what the HIMARS at Fuji actually means in the wider picture. The system, as configured for Wednesday's drill, is short-range. But HIMARS is a platform, not a weapon. Swap the standard pod for the Precision Strike Missile and the same truck can put a warhead 500 kilometers downrange — from Yonaguni, from the Senkakus, from the Batanes islands the U.S. Army has been quietly deploying to since last year, that arc covers the Taiwan Strait and a meaningful portion of the southern Chinese coast. Beijing has spent two decades and several hundred billion dollars building an Anti-Access/Area Denial system designed around one assumption: that American power projection in the Western Pacific depends on a handful of large, fixed, exquisite platforms — carrier groups, Kadena, Guam. The DF-26 is called the "Guam Killer" for a reason. The entire bet is that if you can credibly threaten those platforms, the United States will not show up. A truck that fires twelve rockets and disappears into the tree line breaks that bet. There is no "Guam Killer" for a HIMARS battery that moves every forty minutes across an archipelago of forty-six inhabited islands the U.S. and Japan jointly operate. You cannot pre-target what you cannot find. This was the message Beijing received on Wednesday afternoon. Trump's announcement told them the political ceiling has been raised. Lai's anniversary speech told them Taipei is not negotiating its sovereignty. The rockets at Fuji told them the military floor has been raised too — and that the floor is mobile, distributed, and very difficult to break. The bell that has been ringing all week did not stop at the phone call. It rang again at 2 p.m. in the shadow of Mount Fuji. And the next time it rings, it may not be a training round. Original post by me Aric Chen. Views are my own — welcome to discuss!
Aric Chen109,283 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten
🔥 28 Dead in China's "Shoe Capital" — But Will Beijing Tell You the Real Number? Black smoke swallowed the skyline over Jinjiang, Fujian, just after noon on Thursday. Workers climbed onto the rooftop of a burning shoe factory, waving and screaming for rescue as flames tore through floor after floor below them. Hours later, state media finally put a number on it: 28 dead. The real question is whether anyone outside the Chinese Communist Party will ever know if that number is true. What happened？ Around 12:00 p.m. on July 9, a fire broke out at the Huiteng Shoe Industry Co. factory in Jiangtou Village, Chendai Town — the industrial heart of Jinjiang, a city that brands itself China's "Shoe Capital," home to more than 3,000 footwear manufacturers producing roughly 40% of the country's athletic and casual shoes. Video circulating online, matched against footage reviewed for this report, shows a multi-story factory building fully engulfed, orange flame pouring out of shattered windows and a black column of smoke visible for miles over the surrounding neighborhood of shops and homes. Workers were seen trapped on the roof as the blaze spread beneath them; local reports say some fell while trying to escape. Authorities dispatched 183 firefighters and 35 vehicles, along with a helicopter, to the scene. Fire crews said the stairwells inside the factory were packed with debris and flammable shoemaking materials, which slowed both the escape and the rescue effort. The flames were declared largely extinguished by around 5:40 p.m. — more than five hours after the fire began. The number, and the nine-hour gap For roughly nine hours, official channels described only "significant casualties" — no figure, no breakdown of dead versus injured, no count of how many remained missing. It was not until Thursday evening that Xinhua and other state outlets released a specific toll: 28 dead. No count of the injured or missing has been transparently published alongside it. That gap matters. In a country where the death toll from a workplace disaster can directly affect a local official's career prospects, provincial and municipal officials have a documented incentive to minimize casualty figures before Beijing's own investigators arrive — which is reportedly why a central "joint work group" from the Ministry of Emergency Management was rushed to Jinjiang the same day, effectively taking the count out of local hands. There is also a specific detail from this fire that should raise eyebrows: reports citing local coverage note the factory complex spans more than 60 acres with an annual capacity of roughly 3 million pairs of shoes — yet only 12 workers were registered for industrial injury insurance. An operation of that scale run on a workforce of essentially a dozen "official" employees points to a large, informal labor force that may not appear in any government roster at all. If most of the people inside that building were never on the books to begin with, it becomes far harder — for regulators or for outsiders — to independently verify that 28 is the complete count of who was in the building, and who didn't make it out. A pattern, not a one-off Skepticism toward Chinese disaster tolls isn't cynicism for its own sake — it's a pattern with a paper trail. The 2015 Tianjin warehouse explosions saw the official death toll revised upward repeatedly over several weeks. After catastrophic 2021 flooding hit Zhengzhou, in Henan province, families and independent researchers compiled missing-persons lists far longer than the government's final count, and discussion of the discrepancy was scrubbed from Chinese social media. Coal-mine disasters across China have for decades been documented by labor researchers as chronically undercounted, precisely because local governments control both the rescue effort and the information that comes out of it. None of this proves the Jinjiang toll is wrong. It does mean that "28" is, for now, a number produced entirely by the same authorities who spent nine hours saying nothing at all — with no independent media, no outside investigators, and no free press in China able to check it. Families of the missing, and anyone tracking casualty figures from Jinjiang in the days ahead, would be right to keep watching for whether that number holds. ACI — Aric Chen | Insights
Aric Chen48,412 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat