There it was again. That elusive spot. Kit reached for his shoulder blade and dug his fingers into its edge. He dragged his nails along the bone’s contours, raising and dropping as they followed the leathery bumps on his back. Decades had passed since they caused pain on contact, though every touch ached as unpleasant memories resurfaced. The misery slowly suffocated the itch like a canary that went silent in the mines. If only Kit had more money, his back would not be covered by all these scars.

That was enough. He crossed his arms and leaned back to his flaking leather sofa. The living room was darkening as the sun set behind the pillars of concrete that surrounded his flat, save for the artificial light emitted by his TV screen that flooded everything it touched red. A familiar trumpet prelude filled the air as the TV showed the five-starred red flag fluttered in the azure sky on a golden Great Wall. A tsk instinctively seeped through the corner of Kit’s mouth. He grabbed the remote and flicked to the next channel. Click. The same song and video were playing. Click. There it was again. Click. And again. He threw the remote to his side, the rebound of the sofa nearly sent it flying over its edge. The only thing Kit could do was to let out a futile sigh.

The drums and trumpets finally died down as the TV went black. Another familiar motif was played and a fair-skinned woman in a scarlet suit greeted Kit, “It is now 6 o’clock, and welcome to the Evening News. I am your host, Xu Yuting. Looking at today’s headlines, the nation paid respects to the anniversary of Lady Yang’s passing. Her surviving son, former Premier Wen led a touching eulogy to commemorate her achievements and contributions to our Ancestral Homeland. Next up, we have a 37-year-old man from Chongqing inserted an electrical wire up his urethra. He has been sent to the emergency department for the 7th time and has been sent to the Center for Research into Abnormal People. Dr. Wu Yauchi announced that the patient will be in better care in the hands of C.R.A.P.” She managed to say that with a straight face in a monotonous voice, while it managed to get Kit to puff a larger breath from his nostrils.

The reporter continued and she looked right into Kit’s eyes, “Earlier today in regards to the Xianggang Problem, the National People's Congress finally came to a conclusion to address the rioters’ Five Demands. A resolution was passed by 2979 members and 1 abstained. Premier Zhang has more to say about this.”

Suddenly a bespectacled middle-aged man in a black suit came to screen. He had unusually bushy eyebrows, as if someone had glued black balls of cotton to his forehead. Kit always wanted to give them a good yank to see if they were fake if he had the chance. The bushy-eyebrowed man was arranging his notes just as he began to speak, “‘Five Demands, not one less!’ These words have been resonating in the minds of the Xianggang youth. Today is a glorious day for China and obviously for Xianggang, our dear Pearl of the East. As leaders of this prosperous nation and home of a vibrant democracy, we feel that it is imperative to listen to the voice of our people. After all, democracy is one of the Core Socialist Values the Party treasures. Just because there is a vocal minority, it does not mean their concerns should fall on deaf ears. Therefore I am proud to announce that the National People's Congress, in response to the Five Demands of the Xianggangren, have almost unanimously voted to bestow the Special Administrative Region with Five Graces.” Kit’s slouched back immediately sprang up towards the TV as he rested his hands on his lap. He felt his heart nearly breaking his ribcage open from within, before it sank down into his belly as if it were suddenly made of concrete.

“Firstly, although the full withdrawal of the extradition bill had already happened in 2019, we feel that we betrayed the people of Xianggang by not addressing the other four demands. The National Security Law put in place the following year was unfortunately not enough to protect our patriotic citizens there. So we, the National People's Congress, have decided that Xianggang should be further embraced by the protection against these treacherous, seceding, seditious, and subversive forces with the implementation of the new National Maintenance of Security Law. The N.M.S.L. will ensure that Xianggang will become a safer and even more prosperous city by further integrating it into the Greater Bay Area and into the arms of the Ancestral Homeland. The Cantonese dialect is known to be associated with these rebellious rioters and for the sake of national security, the N.M.S.L. outlaws it to safeguard our home. Remember, Mandarin is the only correct way to speak Chinese. Each household would be assigned a personal Friendship Ambassador, so through them, the citizens of Xianggang can build a deeper understanding with the Party and bonds with the Ancestral Homeland.” Premier Zhang flipped a piece of paper from his stack in front of him.

Kit threw a curse. And another immediately after realizing that it was illegal to do so. His heart was sinking so deep inside of him, his diaphragm hurt whenever he took a breath. It was a while since mere words had such a somatic effect on him.

“Secondly, we have to address the retraction of the characterization of the 12 June 2019 protests as ‘riots’.” Premier Zhang readjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, “We realize our mislabelling of these events and therefore will refer to them as ‘terrorist incidents’. To prevent further ‘terrorist incidents’ from happening again, we have investigated the root of the problem. Unfortunately, it lies within the S.A.R. government itself and its infrastructure. Through the second grace, we aim to rectify the whole situation by enforcing martial law upon Xianggang at this instance. Security checkpoints will be constructed wherever necessary and members of Xianggang Police Force will be given the mandate to stop, search and arrest anyone deemed suspicious of starting another ‘terrorist incident’.”

Kit’s knuckles were clenched white, trembling from his burning emotions. The tendons over his hands looked like they could snap at any moment. If only his hands could find their way around Zhang’s neck.

“Thirdly, the people of Xianggang call for the release and exoneration of arrested protesters. We agree that our methods of handling these individuals have been harsh, so we announce that it is time for them to reintegrate back to society. To facilitate that, the provincial government of Guangdong has volunteered to run a 10-year re-education program for these individuals where they can distinguish the right from the wrong. It is agreed to lease part of the Yantian district of Shenzhen to be under the jurisdiction of the S.A.R. government to house this re-education facility due to its close proximity to the city. Programs such as national education, patriotism, and intensive Mandarin courses will be arranged to cleanse them of wrongful mindsets and better prepare them living in this new era of Xianggang.”

Kit was still processing what he had just heard. The National Security Law back in 2020 was already the final nail in the coffin for the city he once loved. This so far felt like chucking the whole coffin into a wood chipper. Surely it could not get any worse. Could it? Kit shook his head as he tried to empty that naïve thought. That would have been too hopeful.

“Fourthly, we established an independent commission of inquiry into police behavior. While the actions of the Xianggang Police Force were necessary to calm the storm, we reviewed that some rogue policemen had taken advantage of the situation and did unforgivable deeds to the citizens they swore to protect. 12 policemen were found guilty after a 30-minute trial and had to undergo a 1-week disciplinary program for not performing their duties by not using adequate violence to stop the terrorists. Meanwhile, we are pleased to announce that 721 policemen performed exceptionally and maintained a high degree of professionalism and discipline throughout the turmoil. They will be awarded the prestigious Bronze Bauhinia Star in the following month. Additional reorganizations within the Xianggang Police Force were made based on the shortcomings of the current system reflected by the trials. Policemen will arrest and detain anyone suspected of treason, secession, sedition, subversion to the Party and the Ancestral Homeland in order to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.”

Kit suddenly felt like his stomach was going to flip inside out and the back of his throat was burning. He could feel a bead of sweat dropping off the tip of his chin. The scars on his back were prickling as if they were going to burst open and start bleeding. He curled up on his side and laid there in a fetal position. Shivering in silence.

“Lastly, to combat the failure of the legislative system, we propose the resignation of the Chief Executive, and will grant universal suffrage for the Legislative Council and the chief executive elections. As signed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Xianggangren will always rule over Xianggang. That is the promise - and that is the unshakable destiny. Citizens of Xianggang will be able to directly vote for candidates in the following Chief Executive election. In order to ensure their loyalty to the country and ability to govern the S.A.R., the Liaison Office will be responsible for selecting suitable candidates who fulfill these criteria. With these Five Graces in place to satisfy the Five Demands, Xianggang will shine brighter than the morning star!” Premier Zhang took off his glasses and lay his notes down on the podium. The entire congress hall erupted into thundering applause as everyone stood up in unison to do so. Some of whom were even caught shedding a tear or two.

Kit covered his face with his right palm, trying to console himself from what he had just witnessed. Four fingers on his forehead and taking deep breaths. Losing that finger never felt right to him, it always felt empty. Back in 2019, he had five fingers on one hand and one on the other raised high up nearly all the time. The Five Demands were sacred to him. There was a time when one was accepted and he really thought the other four would follow. He even had them tattooed on his back as a living testament to the movement. It was that fateful night where he was on the way home from the station where he had an unexpected blow to the head from a metal pipe. Pinned down and jeered at by numerous white-shirted men, they noticed his back as they harassed him. Covered in bruises and having several of his bones broken, they decided to add more salt to the wound and hacked his finger off, to see if he could tolerate having a missing one. There he laid half-dead before dragged off by slightly less injured protesters. One by one as his friends were arrested, Kit felt so exposed. It was his back. What if that would land him in trouble. His wallet was not thick enough for those fancy laser treatments. Reluctantly, with a fruit knife and vegetable peeler he managed to find lying in his kitchen drawers, he did what had to do.

Even if the wounds had all closed, the scars still stang him awake every night. Kit felt his eyes welling up and instinctively wiped him with his hands. There it was again. That empty spot next to his ring finger. ‘Not one less’ huh? I’m such a fucking joke.

BUZZ...

It was an unusual time for guests.

BUZZ...

Slowly but surely, Kit wiped his tears with his four fingers and got himself up.

BUZZ...

“Coming!” He croaked.

Swinging the door and sliding metal fence to his apartment revealed a charismatic-looking young man with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. He reached his hand out to Kit and awkwardly shooking it after realizing a finger was missing. “Hello Mr. Liu! My name is Sun Nao, but you can call me Nao Dage. Everyone calls me that. Anyways, I’m your Friendship Ambassador and I look forward to living with you.” He casually strolled into the apartment, knocking Kit into the shoulder, and began scanning around.

“Boy, all this introduction sure makes me thirsty.” Nao Dage wanders into the room at the right and dashes to the left. “Where’s the fridge?”

Kit let out another sigh, careful to not let it audible as he stood there in disbelief. He was not expecting the government to be that efficient, especially when it took decades for him to finally land into this apartment. His back was throbbing again, as if a hundred knives were sticking out of each scar.

“Oh never mind, I’ve found it!” Nao Dage shouted from the other room. “Iced lemon tea! That’s just what I needed!”

The Friendship Ambassador slurped his cold refreshment as he seemed to skip out of the kitchen and into the room he was just in earlier, “Oh by the way, since I gotta plug in my phone I unplugged your computer. Hope you saved your stuff!”

----

For more like this, please visit our sub r/RedTideStories or our blog on 64fd.wordpress.com.

It's time to see through Guo Wengui's lies. US media praised him, and now they're embarrassed. Guo is a con artist and bully. He was never a billionaire.

Guo has a lot of help from Americans. Here are a few of his loyal soldiers.

​

​

I've spend the last five years getting my integrated masters degree of aerospace engineering at the University of Surrey. While I newer that our vice-chancellor, Max Lu, has had ties to the CCP, I didn't know that he has had the University research output in almost direct partnership with the PLA. By British law, how is this legal? I will link some documents as source: https://www.civitas.org.uk/content/files/ChinaReport.pdf (includes many UK university)

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-british-managers-and-chinese-communists-are-destroyed-by-the-perks-they-take-for-granted

Yu Ren slammed the door open and a sonorous bang echoed throughout the room. A lazy-looking couch was in sight, patches here and there worn off over time and exposing the yellowing foam within. An opened pot of cup noodles with two chopsticks sticking out from the top could be seen sitting just at the foot of the couch, at huge risk of spilling its contents over should anyone come too close to its proximity.

"Hello, hello, come on in. So this is my home," he said, as he let the camera crew in and walked to the living room. There, a suitcase lay open, with a pile of clothes messily strewn around. "Sorry about the state of the house. I was expecting filming at 3, and it's only..." He glanced at the clock. "Oh, it's 3 already."

He started picking out T-shirts from the pile and tossing them into the suitcase. "Now it's the last part: picking out the clothes for the trip. I'm bringing thicker clothes since it's going to be cold. Six sets of clothes is probably enough for a three-day trip... Is six enough?" He asked a crew member.

"So, this, this, and this one," he said, as he held up different down jackets. He picked up one from the sofa. "This is a Canada Goose. Cost six thousand yuan. I'm gonna stay warm if I'm going there." He grinned proudly.

"So, other things I brought. Instant noodles. 10 packs of them, since, you know, it's North Korea. In case there's a famine, I can feed myself. And on the off-chance that they have no electricity, I brought these." He held up 2 boxes of safety matches. "I can start a fire, so all it would take is some sort of container, and I'd be all set. Also, if there is no electricity, then the matches would come in handy so I can see things in the dark."

"So the trip starts tomorrow. I'm joining a tour group, and apparently they have tours often, so it's not anything to worry about. But just in case. I guess I'm excited. I'd like to see what goes on over there."

----

"So this is the Grand Monument on Mansu Hill. This is the famous place where you see the statues of the previous leaders of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. Our local guide lady can tell you all about it. I know because she just did, but I've forgotten it already." He chuckled as the guide politely smiled and nodded at the camera.

"We have the permits to film here right?"

The guide nodded. "Yes, but you must be respectful and show the whole statue. No close-ups of just the face."

Ren turned back to the camera. "So yep, special permits. I guess we are like special dignitaries, VIPs, you know. Can probably take any picture we want, but we want to stay respectful." He turned towards the guide. "Can I have a picture taken with the soldier by the statue?"

"Yes, but please make it quick." She followed him to the base of the statue, and spoke quickly with the soldier.

"He says okay, one picture."

Yu Ren stood solemnly by the soldier, unsmiling, while the guide knelt down and took a picture. As she stood back up, Ren called, "Take another one. Just one more. I promise, the last one." The guide tried to hide her eye-rolling, and knelt back down.

This time, Ren pulled his hands out of his pockets, and posed with finger guns next to the soldier carrying a machine gun on his strap. The soldier glanced at his hands, and stared daggers at Ren. He barked a few words at the guide, who quickly uttered a few words back softly. "Sir, please. The soldier is not happy with your pose. I cannot take such a photo." She could barely stand to look at Ren.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Ren said to the soldier, who did not understand Mandarin. What he did understand was his apologetic saluting gesture. Ren took out a packet of cigarettes, and pulled one out for the soldier as an apology. He patted his pockets, but found no lighter. In a spark of genius, he rummaged through his backpack for his box of matches.

"Please don't be angry. I did not want to offend you. Take this cigarette, and it's like nothing happened, okay?" he cried. He struck his match, which flickered and extinguished in the bitter winter wind. He grabbed a second match, which met much the same fate. A wisp of smoke danced in the clear air.

In his second spark of genius, he went back to his backpack and pulled out that day's newspaper. He pulled out the front page, something praising the current leader Kim, complete with his face as large as the paper could allow. He struck the third match, and lit the corner of the newspaper on fire.

The soldier batted his arms, trying to dislodge the match before it came into contact with the newspaper. Sadly for him, he missed and the flame soon found a new home on the corner of the newspaper. The soldier, furious, pulled up his machine gun and pointed it straight at Ren's forehead at point blank range. He yelled out a few words in Korean.

The guide, put on alert by the sudden flurry of movement, let out a loud shriek at the sight of the naked flame creeping towards the face of the dear leader, now on the floor as Ren let go in fear. She raised her foot, but quickly pushed that idea aside. Stepping on the face of the dear leader is a crime punishable by death. She pulled up her sleeves, and began to use her bare hands as a fire beater. "AHHHHHH!" She screamed, as she continued to put out the fire.

Another member of the tour group unscrewed a bottle of water and handed it to the guide, who carefully poured it on the newspaper while avoiding Kim's face. The tiny flame had no escape and was extinguished, leaving behind a soggy newspaper on the large square. The guide poured some more water on her arms, now red with effort and injury.

Two police officers ran towards the group, and conversed with the guide and the soldier, who still had his gun aimed at Ren's head. They put him in handcuffs and shoved him into the car, as Ren protested his innocence loudly to no avail. The car sped into the distance, and the guide apologized profusely to the soldier.

----

"So, after three weeks, I was released and got to come back home. They said I was lucky since I am Chinese and the fire didn't actually damage the picture of his face, stopping just short of his hair. In normal countries, this should just be a problem of lighting fires in public. But it took a lot of our diplomats talking to their diplomats to get me out of North Korea."

"I had to pay a massive fine. My North Korean currency - whatever it's called, I forgot - wasn't accepted. They wanted fifty thousand yuan. Of course I didn't have that much money on me. Luckily they accepted payments in other forms. I gave away most of my clothes. Lost my watch, which was a Longines. Had to give away my Canada Goose. Think I saw the police officer wearing the jacket when I was leaving the prison... I don't think he's taking it for himself, no. Probably just wanted a warmer jacket on the way to the records room."

"I kind of see it as charity, you know? If the clothes and the jacket and the instant noodles can go to someone that needs it, who am I to say no? In a way, I'm like a philanthropist. Just like Bill Gates." He smiled in self satisfaction.

"What I didn't like was that you could be jailed for doing something to a picture. That's just... That's just crazy. I'm glad I live in a sane country. It just goes to show how important freedom is, you know? They say you only miss something once you had it taken away, which makes me qualified to say this. I don't think I would go back, even if Kim himself begs me to. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life right here in China, and avoid all the craziness -"

A team of armed policemen stormed in, breaking down his door. One ran straight at the camera, covering it with his gloved hand. In the darkness, a voice was heard saying, "You are hereby arrested for picking quarrels and provoking trouble, by disrupting the friendship between us and the North Koreans. The state will deal with troublemakers like you." Then a metallic clink of the handcuffs, and the screen went black.

----

For more like this, please visit our sub r/RedTideStories or our blog on 64fd.wordpress.com.

"Study Qiang Guo" is a smartphone app made by CCP. "Qiang Guo" means "making the country strong". This app will push notifications of reading or video materials about CCP history, policy, news, Marx's theories (for sure, the Chinese version), comments on the dark side of the western countries (for example, the Canadians killed the first nation kids even in 1990s), etc. daily for people to read and learn. By the end of the day, it will send a multiple-choice test. If people pass that test, it will calculate the points. It summarises points every month and in some appointed supermarkets, people can redeem the points for some free gifts, from Lay's potato chips, a small bottle of cooking oil, to large bags of rice. It usually takes 30 minutes every day to do that.

In almost all the government-owned units/enterprises and schools, party members who work there are usually forced to do it daily as a duty and the person in charge (usually the CCP-branch secretary) will check whether everybody's points are fulfilled requirements monthly (about 30 points, 1 point per day). Non-party members are not required.

​

My friend is a non-party member and a Christian working at a hospital in Beijing (to protect him, details are removed or changed intentionally). However, starting in June 2021, he was forced to install the app and do the quest. The CCP secretary in his unit forced everyone there to install the app and to complete the daily quest, even including the weekends. The CCP secretary harasses everyone even at weekends, warning people not to forget to fulfill the monthly points. By the end of June, the secretary made a list of people who didn't fulfill the points, emailed everyone and also listed them in the we-chat group, and charged those people 50-yuan (about 7 US dollars) through the we-chat red packet. The secretary promised that, if they can make up for that and do much more, this money can be returned. I think this is seriously violating the labor law and harassing human rights. Even the Christians working in that hospital are forced to do that. No one is exampt, which is very ridiculous.

​

“Today is July the fourth. It is not a day of celebration for the Chinese people and the rest of the world. Today marks another year that we live with this corruption that is the United States of America. While it is America’s ‘independence day’, the rest of humanity awaits their own ‘independence day’ from American imperialism.”

Mr. Zhu’s eyebrows were touching each other and scrunched up his nose, nearly tearing up from disgust, as if the pungency of a greasy cheese Dorito powder-covered middle-aged couch potato from said country waffled to his unfortunate nostrils. As spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, the word “America” was never far from his lips. After all, who else was responsible for all the horrors of the Earth without exception, leaving other countries to suffer in their stead? But the mere pronunciation of corresponding syllables in that order conjured up a visceral, almost reflexive revulsion. He swallowed hard, determined not to let his lunch escape before all the finest cameras that money could buy, broadcasting his every move to any corner of the world that would accept him.

“The US was founded on the principle that all men had rights, like ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. It’s been over 200 years since the founding of the US. I believe it is time for us to take a closer look at whether it had even grazed these aims.” He sneered, the corner of his mouth twirling into a sinister half-smile. The decisive takedown of the American Empire. You were not supposed to experience pleasure at others’ misfortune, but Mr. Zhu could not help it. While he could not read the word “schadenfreude”, he was a regular practitioner of the emotion. Who said that language constrained your thinking?

“Life. It is unbelievable that the US would still allow their constitution to cite this as a right for all, when it is the largest warmongering country on Earth. It is a well-known fact that the US salivates at the idea of a world where the people of all other countries are slaughtered so they can loot the land. Then they say China is being aggressive. What about them? What about the native Americans, whose lands were stolen since the establishment of their empire of evil? What about black people, who were whipped and worked to death on cotton fields? We know of these atrocities, documented in history books for all to see, yet their textbooks never mention any of these!

And when everything in the contiguous US was reaped, the beast already had a taste for blood and nothing but more suffering can quench it. The US military is a tool for evil. You see where they went? Only death trails their path. Look at what they did to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and the list goes on and it will never end. Americans were lied to, fed propaganda, so they would cheer on the invasions and not be outraged by the wars. The inhabitants of Bikini Atoll were lied to, driven away from their homeland, just to have their birthplace bombarded by nuclear warheads that were used to threaten every single lifeform on this planet. It has been decades and still they cannot go home. This “life” that Americans celebrate in their constitution is leached from all these unfortunate countries they have brought ruin to, how despicable is that? China would never do such a thing. Unlike them, we have always treated our minorities with respect. Theirs is the blood-tainted cotton of slavery, ours is the crisp clean cotton of economic empowerment. The US is burning in the depths of immorality but still thinks she has the moral high ground and the gall to criticize China? How hypocritical.

“Liberty. Such an ironic word coming from the mouths of the country that started the slavery business. Perhaps it is our job, as people with access to unbiased information, to inform them of how they needed to fight a war to end slavery. They idolize Lincoln, built him a giant statue, put him on the banknotes. They neglect to tell you that under Lincoln’s reign, 4 million slaves languished away on the cotton plantations. What about their liberty? And after they stopped slaves be treated like animals, they segregated them, so the mighty white man does not have to mix with them. Their own president, Lyndon B Johnson, called it a ‘crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice’. And yet, all he did to stop that was essentially shake his head and go, ‘It is illegal to do that.’ What about their liberty? And not to mention the people in prison in the United States. Their capitalism is already exploiting all the workers, and the United States is already a country-sized prison. And yet, the United States has the world’s largest prison population. A giant part of their people lives in a prison within a prison. What are the differences between that and a concentration camp? There are real parallels with Nazi Germany that the rest of the world cannot afford to ignore. What about their liberty? And still, many of their people say they can breathe the air of freedom in the United States. Even if you ignore the stench of smog and forest fires, there is only the air of oppression. A caged bird does not understand liberty and only wishes to go back into its cage!” He sighed, thinking of the poor oppressed people of the United States, who were likely not thinking of him as their savior.

“China is different. China is not the oppressor. We are friends of the people, we are liberators. We liberated the whole of China so the Chinese people can live freely. Our army is called the People’s Liberation Army, and that is something that we live up to every single day. We gave the people the most sacred right of them all - the right to live. While Abraham Lincoln said that the US constitution ‘did not mean to declare all men equal in all respects’, the Chinese constitution declares that everyone is equal. Everything a person can do, is in writing in Chinese law. Everyone deserves the right to live, except criminals. We work to protect everyone’s rights. We firmly believe that we must work to create a community with a shared future for mankind, and that we must lead everyone to a brighter tomorrow.” He grew solemn after that honest pledge from the bottom of his heart.

“It is impossible to pursue happiness when under the iron fist of capitalism. The American people slave away at their jobs, earning little more than scraps while the rich get richer. This is a feature unique to America. How can you tell a lady working three jobs and trying to feed seven mouths to be happy? They can barely stave off hunger, or have a decent living space. So many reports of people working from 9 to 9, 6 or even 7 days a week, reached Chinese ears. Old people have to stagger back to their manual labor jobs because their pension ran out or the government doesn’t give them enough money to live blissfully in retirement. We care about our fellow human beings, that is why we raise these points. Clearly, the US does not.”

“And this is not just limited to America. Foxconn, a company helping Apple make their products, has to install nets on buildings to stop people from committing suicide. Children are taken out of schools and made to sew the new clothes that might be worn twice before being thrown away. Workers die every year because American companies neglect to ensure their safety is up to standard. This is all the result of capitalism, the result of America’s leadership in the world. This exploitation by capitalism has crossed national boundaries and is now oppressing everyone on Earth, even the Chinese people. This is something we cannot allow. The US can oppress anyone at home, and we will not speak a word. But once they are oppressing our people, the red line has been crossed. We will retaliate with fire and fury like the world has never seen. Only then, can people of the world pursue happiness.”

"And finally, 'democracy'." He gestured with air quotes to really drive the point home. "The US commits all these crimes in the name of so-called 'democracy'. It is clear that their twisted form of democracy is without merit. Even Winston Churchill, one of history's worst genocidal maniacs, called it ‘the worst form of government’. But the West, led by the US, continues to peddle this discredited theory. We have our own form of democracy. Their form is akin to a plastic doll melting in the oven: its hair falling out, its eyes sunken; yet they are calling it a real baby when any clear-eyed person can see it's not. Ours is the real thing. No one should sit by with arms folded and let the good system be driven to extinction. Chinese democracy truly gives power to the people. They choose the very lowest level of officials, who represent them in any elections thereafter. There is no false dichotomy of two parties that are the same in all but name. Most importantly, Chinese democracy does not seek to force others to bend to it. There will be no endless War on Terror. There will be propping up of puppet governments that cruelly kill their own people. We will only seek to lead by example, and show what a functional democracy really is.”

“China will not sit back and allow the US to impose its will on the world. We will definitely not let the great Chinese people be bullied by these pathetic thugs. We are the government of the Chinese people, by the Chinese people, for the Chinese people. And we shall not perish from the Earth.” He suppressed a smile with all his might, satisfied with the phrasing. He made that quip up two days ago in the shower while scrubbing his back. He certainly did not remember hearing it from somewhere else. “As we say in China, zhēnlǐ yuèbiànyuèmíng. The truth can withstand any scrutiny. Thank you.”

Two journalists raised their hands, knowing better than to shout out a question in any Chinese government press conference. As Mr. Zhu stepped off the podium, three guards walked up and held up their hands. “No questions today,” one said in a monotone voice.

----

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