FAMINE IN CHINA
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00:00China's luxury homes, cars, and high-end restaurants have all collapsed, and many of
00:29their restaurants have all collapsed. The prosperous era has ended, all social classes
00:34are in decline. Dire living conditions of Chinese citizens exposed, reports of starvation
00:40deaths in Jiangsu, middle class returns to poverty. Are rural areas becoming sacrificial
00:47ponds? China encourages farmers to move to cities and buy houses to alleviate real estate
00:52crisis. Floods in the south and droughts in the north devastate major production areas,
00:59threatening China's grain output. Sinister hands reaching out to children? Shanghai establishes
01:05pediatric major organ transplant center. Step on board for today's show, dive into Decoding
01:12China, where you'll find all the essential information you need.
01:18China's luxury homes, cars, and high-end restaurants have all collapsed. The prosperous
01:23era has ended, all social classes are in decline. Have you noticed that suddenly, luxury cars
01:30are no longer selling in China, and some models that used to require a price increase are
01:34now being heavily discounted? Even Porsches have significant discounts. Currently, in
01:41China, luxury homes, cars, and high-end restaurants are all experiencing a downturn. Even in Shanghai,
01:48luxury home prices have plummeted. This is the home of a genuine Shanghai socialite.
01:54He owns multiple properties in Shanghai, including villas, old houses, and riverview apartments.
02:01The smallest of his properties, but still valued at over 4 million dollars, is a top-tier
02:06luxury home in Suyuan. His home is adorned with numerous expensive crystal chandeliers,
02:12and the furniture alone costs tens of thousands of dollars. The balcony is worth approximately
02:18553,720 dollars. Now, this house is being sold with a 276,000-dollar price reduction.
02:28Greentown Huangpu Bay in Huangpu District is a barometer for luxury homes in Shanghai.
02:33Recently, a 20th-floor apartment of 331 square meters in Greentown Huangpu Bay sold for 7
02:40million dollars. Now, it has dropped by 2.7 million dollars. The homeowner is determined
02:48to sell, and the buyer is rational. Other upscale communities in Shanghai have also
02:53seen varying degrees of price drops. In Huangpu District, Zhonghai Jianwo Li's prices have
02:59fallen by 24%. In Huashan Bun No. 9, prices have dropped by 20%. In Minhang District,
03:07prices in Gubei No. 1 have fallen by 26%, and in Suwei District, prices in Shanghai
03:12Bay have dropped by 18%. Luxury homes are facing severe devaluation.
03:18Why are luxury homes not selling? The answer is simple, there aren't enough wealthy buyers.
03:25Moreover, analysts point out that the main reason for the current stagnation in luxury
03:30home sales is the broken chain. Specifically, when housing prices start to fall, many middle-class
03:36families lack the risk tolerance because most of their wealth is tied to real estate. Furthermore,
03:42China's household leverage rate is as high as 63%, the highest in the world.
03:48This means many families rely on loans to buy homes, resulting in significant debt pressure.
03:54Previously, the real estate market thrived through continuous upgrades and replacements.
04:00For example, someone would sell an old, small apartment to buy an elevator apartment,
04:04then buy a more expensive, improved housing, and so on. But now, high-end property sellers
04:11are eager to cash out or repay loans, while lower-tier buyers are afraid to purchase due
04:15to the market downturn. It's not just luxury homes that are struggling to sell, luxury cars
04:21in China have also crashed. How severe is the price drop?
04:26The BMW i3 electric sedan has dropped by $2,350.
04:32The Audi A4 L has dropped to $2,770.
04:37Mercedes-Benz is offering nearly $1,384 off across its entire range, and even the imported
04:44CLS model has joined the price reduction. Even Porsche has reduced prices.
04:50The Macan Inchengen has dropped by $6,200.
04:54As one of its most important markets, Porsche's sales in China for the first quarter were 16,340
05:01units, a year-on-year decrease of 24%. Bentley's sales in China plummeted by 18% year-on-year,
05:08while Lamborghini saw a drop of about 17%.
05:12There are several reasons for the significant price reductions in luxury cars.
05:17In recent years, the middle class has seen their assets shrink the most,
05:21with employment and income severely affected. Industries like finance, education, gaming,
05:27and the internet are all sluggish, and the real estate and stock markets have also hit the middle
05:32class hard. As a result, they have cut back on luxury car purchases, leading to a sharp
05:38decline in luxury car sales. Misfortunes never come singly,
05:42another high-end industry in China is currently experiencing a steep decline, high-end restaurants.
05:49A search for expensive western cuisine or high-end western cuisine on social media
05:53shows that in 2024, well-known western restaurants across the country are closing
05:58down one after another. Famous food writer Xiao Kuan stated that the wave of closures
06:03has just begun. It's not just happening in Beijing and Shanghai,
06:07this trend will gradually spread to major mainstream cities.
06:11According to the 2024 retail business trend report by Cushman and Wakefield,
06:16compared to 2022, the new lease area for high-end fine dining in Shanghai across
06:20various subcategories significantly decreased in 2023. This suggests that investors and brands
06:27have become more cautious when opening new high-end dining establishments.
06:32How frugal have current consumers become?
06:35According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, although the number of tourists
06:39during the May Day holiday surged this year, the per capita consumption was only 565 yuan,
06:45approximately $78, equivalent to just 83% of that in 2019. During economic crises,
06:53the dual scarcity of material and spiritual resources forces people into the fourth
06:57consumption era. In this era, demand for luxury and trendy products decreases,
07:03while the emphasis on product quality and comfort increases.
07:08Dire living conditions of Chinese citizens exposed, reports of starvation deaths in
07:13Jiangsu, middle class returns to poverty. Recently, the dire living conditions of the
07:18lower class in China have been continuously exposed online, with reports of people even
07:23starving to death. The middle class is also experiencing a downgrade in consumption and a
07:28return to poverty while the government has begun aggressively targeting private enterprises,
07:33plunging Chinese society into a vicious cycle.
07:37On the social media platform X, a video was posted on the 24th indicating that a man in
07:42Unit 2 of Building 19 in Zhangyuan, Shizhou, Jiangsu, starved to death. The footage shows
07:49police and medical personnel at the scene carrying away a young man. Netizens noticed that the man's
07:55arms were extremely thin, suggesting he had not eaten for a long time. Another video circulated
08:01on the 25th shows a sick father refusing treatment because he couldn't bear the medical costs,
08:06with his daughter kneeling and begging, I don't want to live without you.
08:10Another father-daughter pair had a similar situation, with the daughter clinging tightly
08:14to her father, who wanted to leave the hospital. In another instance, a mother insisted on
08:20continuing her stall business despite being ill, with her son angrily smashing the stall out of
08:25distress. Another mother, ill and unwilling to seek medical treatment, had her son kneeling by
08:31the roadside, pleading. And countless other tragic scenes continue to emerge.
08:38The economic downturn in China has affected not only the lower class but also the middle class,
08:43who are experiencing a downgrade in consumption or falling back into poverty.
08:48According to a recent report by BBC Chinese, Shanxi businessman Sun Junli, over a decade ago,
08:54had 20 stores across mainland China with an annual revenue of 50 to 60 million yuan
08:59around 8.2 million US dollars. During the three years of the pandemic, her business deteriorated,
09:05forcing her to sell her assets and her business entirely. She was also summoned,
09:11detained, and blacklisted for defaulting on wages for over 30 employees.
09:16She noticed a change in customer habits. The same group of people who used to come twice a week
09:22now come only twice a month or once every two months. Even with promotions and discounts,
09:27sales did not improve, which she attributed to people having no money.
09:32And many other entrepreneurs have found themselves in similar situations.
09:37According to the Ministry of Finance, personal income tax in the first four months of this year
09:42decreased by 7% year-on-year, in the first two months, nationwide personal income tax revenue
09:47fell by 15.9% year-on-year. Recently, news that the Chinese Communist Party government plans to
09:54retroactively investigate 30 years of corporate taxes has left many private business owners
09:59anxious. This move has been widely interpreted as a sign that the government is running out
10:04of money and has started targeting private enterprises for revenue. This is akin to
10:09killing the goose that lays the golden eggs as it will likely cause more businesses to close,
10:14leading to higher unemployment and worsening living conditions for more people.
10:19Knife Sellers Appear With Shocking Predictions A recent online report stated that on June 25,
10:25a knife seller appeared in a region of China, declaring,
10:28if in three years the price of pork does not exceed 40 yuan per 0.5 kilogram and rice does
10:33not exceed 6 yuan per 0.5 kilogram, I will not come to collect the money for the knives.
10:39It is said that knife sellers first appeared during the Song Dynasty.
10:44Many of their predictions often came true. For example, in the Qing Dynasty in Zhejiang,
10:50a knife seller left a prediction when he sold knives on credit, saying you would come to
10:54collect the debt when the price of rice dropped from 80 yuan per liter to 18 yuan. At the time,
10:59everyone thought he was joking. However, to everyone's surprise, during the Guangxu era
11:05reforms, the court indeed lowered the price of grain to 18 yuan per liter.
11:10According to official data, on June 25, the retail price of Beijing japonica rice in
11:15supermarkets was 2.92 yuan per 0.5 kilogram and fresh pork was 16.21 yuan per 0.5 kilogram.
11:23If the knife seller's prediction comes true again, it would mean a doubling of rice prices
11:28and pork prices increasing by nearly 2.5 times. By then, many ordinary people might find it
11:34difficult to afford rice and meat. China seems to be moving in the direction the knife seller
11:40predicted. Recently, prices for what are called the three essentials for the poor,
11:45including instant noodles, pickled mustard greens, and cola, have soared.
11:51What used to cost 9 yuan now costs 13 yuan, an increase of over 40%.
11:56Prices for essential consumption items like water, electricity, gas, gasoline,
12:01and high-speed rail tickets had already seen significant increases.
12:06Now, with reports of people starving to death and business owners driven to despair by taxes,
12:11one wonders how far away we are from a large-scale rebellion similar to those at the end of the Ming
12:16Dynasty. Are rural areas becoming sacrificial ponds? China encourages farmers to move to cities
12:23and buy houses to alleviate real estate crisis. Despite the Chinese Communist Party authorities
12:30implementing the most aggressive real estate stimulus policies in May, the impact has been
12:34minimal. Recently, governments in various regions, such as Fengying in Anhui, Nanting in Jiangsu,
12:41and Nizhou in Hubei, have introduced policies to encourage farmers to abandon their homesteads
12:45and move to cities to buy houses, sparking negative reactions on Weibo. Farmers who
12:50voluntarily give up their homesteads within designated land adjustment areas and move to
12:54cities to buy houses can receive a one-time purchase incentive of 50,000 yuan, about 6,900
13:00US dollars. Many people have criticized these policies, if the vast rural population is relied
13:06upon to absorb the excess real estate in cities, this calculation is too optimistic. A one-time
13:12subsidy of 50,000 yuan isn't even enough for a down payment in many areas. Ultimately,
13:18they are extending their claws towards the most vulnerable groups. What will they eat and spend
13:24in the city? Farmers do not have stable incomes, nor do they have pensions to ensure their
13:28retirement. What are they thinking? This is cutting off their future. Liang Xiaohua, an employee at
13:36Qinchuanchuan Law Firm in California, USA, stated that historically, the CCP has often targeted
13:41farmers, such as ensuring food supplies for city residents during famine years, while many
13:46rural people starved. This policy reflects the same mindset. After the CCP established its regime,
13:53it confiscated lands through brutal land reforms, first claiming to distribute it to farmers,
13:58only to reclaim it soon after as collective property. Therefore, although farmers can
14:02build houses on homesteads, they only have usage rights and cannot buy, sell, or rent the land.
14:08Moreover, once villagers sell their homes, they cannot reapply for homesteads.
14:13With China's economy declining and unemployment rates soaring,
14:17farmers without homesteads may find themselves homeless if they fail to succeed in the cities.
14:22Additionally, there are concerns about how farmers will make a living in the cities and
14:26the urban social welfare system's capacity. This policy also contradicts the authorities'
14:31so-called rural revitalization policies. Lan Xu, a current affairs commentator living in the US,
14:38stated, using a 50,000 yuan subsidy to encourage farmers to move to cities and buy houses actually
14:43means that most of the money for the house purchase still has to come from the farmers
14:47themselves. If the house price drops by 50,000 yuan due to a slight market fluctuation,
14:52the farmers will not be so foolish. So, this policy is unlikely to succeed.
14:59During the real estate boom, many rural lands were forcibly demolished. People now worry that
15:04the local government's new policies to return homesteads will again forcibly take farmers' lands.
15:10Lian Xiaohua commented, now we are in a clear period of economic decline where all kinds of
15:15conflicts are emerging, and without better solutions, the state resorts to forced suppression
15:20and exploitation. The CCP always assumes that the lower classes have no power to resist.
15:26However, this requires a certain degree, and when it reaches a tipping point, the so-called
15:30quantitative change leads to qualitative change, which will result in an uncontrollable situation.
15:36But when this will happen is unknown, and the process involves continuous exploitation.
15:42Previously, youth unemployment in cities soared, leading to mobilization for youth to return to
15:47the countryside. Now, with the real estate industry on the brink of collapse, local governments are
15:53mobilizing farmers to absorb the surplus. It seems rural areas are always seen by the CCP as a
15:59solution, yet rural China itself faces numerous challenges, including labor force loss, low income,
16:05land imbalances, and environmental pollution. Floods in the south and droughts in the north
16:11devastate major production areas, threatening China's grain output. This summer, southern
16:17China is suffering from severe floods due to heavy rain, while northern China is experiencing drought
16:22and lack of rain. All major grain-producing regions in the north and south are affected,
16:27threatening grain production. Jiangxi and Hunan are major early rice-growing areas in China.
16:33While the southern grain-producing areas are hit by heavy rain, northern grain-producing
16:37areas have issued drought warnings. The Hong Kong Mingpao published an editorial on June 24,
16:43stating that floods in southern China and drought in the north are particularly severe this year.
16:49Hunan Province, the second-largest grain-producing province in the country,
16:53produces a quarter of China's wheat and is a major producer of rice, corn, and soybeans.
16:58The drought comes at a critical time for summer planting, which began on a large scale on May 28,
17:04mainly for corn. By June 13, most areas had seen over 60 days without effective rainfall,
17:10and extreme high temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius occurred earlier than usual,
17:14affecting a larger area. Farmland has become scorched earth, and farmers lack water for
17:20irrigation. As of June 15, about 10 percent of Hunan's autumn crops, totaling 10.168 million
17:26mu, about 680,000 hectares, were affected by drought. Nationally, the area for summer grain
17:33planting accounts for one-quarter of the yearly total, and in the north, autumn grain production
17:38accounts for three-quarters of the annual yield. The drought in the north has affected wheat
17:43production and delayed corn planting in some areas. While high temperatures are expected to
17:48continue, rain in other parts of the region may provide much-needed moisture for newly planted
17:52crops, but also increases the risk of flooding. The China Meteorological Administration said on
17:58Monday that heavy rains are expected in Heilongjiang Province, a major grain-producing
18:03region in the northeast. According to hydrological and meteorological forecasts from the Yangtze
18:08River Commission, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will experience a period
18:12of concentrated heavy rainfall over the next 10 days. As a result, floods exceeding warning
18:18levels may occur at Zhejiang Station, Hukou Station, Luan River, and Shuiyang River in
18:23the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and its tributaries.
18:27UN experts have pointed out that extreme weather disrupts agricultural systems,
18:32posing complex challenges to economic stability. Climate change increases the cost of agricultural
18:37planting, destroys farmland infrastructure, disrupts crop transportation and distribution
18:42networks, causes supply chain interruptions, market shortages, and drives up food prices,
18:47exacerbating inflation. Research from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany
18:53shows that by 2035, climate change may cause global food prices to increase by 1% to 3%
18:59annually, and by 2060, food prices could rise by 4.3% annually.
19:06Sinister hands reaching out to children? Shanghai establishes pediatric major organ
19:11transplant center. According to a report by Fudan University's Shanghai Medical College
19:16News Network on May 31, the hospital held the pediatric major organ transplant center
19:21inauguration ceremony and organ transplant forum on May 21. The report stated that since
19:27the hospital was approved for heart, liver, and kidney transplants in August 2022, it had performed
19:33102 organ transplant surgeries by May 17 of this year, causing public concern. This has led to
19:39questions about potential wrongdoing. Former director of the virus laboratory at the US Army
19:45Research Institute, Lin Xiaoxu, commented, the CCP is now pushing organ transplants as a highly
19:51profitable industry under the guise of saving lives, but in reality, it is forcibly seizing
19:56organs from the public. The establishment of a so-called pediatric major organ transplant center
20:01indicates that the government is no longer satisfied with adult organs and is now targeting
20:06teenagers and children. Former Beijing lawyer and chairman of the Federation for a Democratic
20:11China in Canada, Lai Jianping, added, such an institution will only exacerbate the black market
20:17for organs and increase the evil acts of stealing and forcibly harvesting organs. Since 2000,
20:23the rapidly developing organ transplant industry in China has been accused of large-scale forced
20:28organ harvesting, primarily from failing gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.
20:33On July 6, 2006, former Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region David Kilgour
20:39and international human rights lawyer David Mattis released a report confirming allegations
20:44of forced organ harvesting from failing gong practitioners by the CCP. Wang Jiyuan, head of
20:49the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Failing Gong, stated, we have
20:54more and stronger evidence proving the existence of forced organ harvesting. This evidence spans
20:59from the central government to local levels across China. It shows that the highest authorities
21:05ordered and used the Political and Legal Affairs Commission's 610 office system to control the
21:09entire state apparatus in carrying out a state crime of genocide against a group. This has been
21:14ongoing for over 20 years and continues to this day. The goal is to eradicate this belief,
21:20failing gong's belief in truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
21:25The bipartisan Failing Gong Protection Act, H.R. 4132, introduced by Representative Scott Perry
21:31with 18 co-sponsors, passed by a voice vote on June 25. It is the first US legislative bill
21:37addressing Beijing's brutal suppression of the faith to advance through the chamber.
21:41Failing gong, a meditation discipline based on the principles of truthfulness,
21:46compassion, and tolerance, has been the subject of a relentless campaign in communist China
21:51designed to eradicate the faith. For the past 25 years, adherents of the practice,
21:56numbering up to 100 million in 1999 according to estimates at the time,
22:00have faced lengthy imprisonment, torture, forced labor, and forced organ harvesting.
22:05The Failing Gong Protection Act, which still needs Senate approval,
22:09calls for an immediate end to the persecution. If signed into law, it will require the United
22:14States to shun any cooperation with China in the organ transplantation field and to deploy
22:19targeted sanctions and visa restrictions to address the persecution of failing gong
22:23on the international stage. Mr. Perry said on the House floor on June 25 that having to discuss the
22:29issue of systematic forced organ harvesting in 2024 is itself very frightening. Forced organ
22:36harvesting, a form of mass murder, this is something like what we saw with Joseph Mengel,
22:40but it's happening today, he said. In China, if you've got the money,
22:45there is no waiting list for you to get an organ. There's a ready supply of these organs.
22:51The Failing Gong Protection Act would also mandate sanctions on Chinese officials,
22:55military leaders, or others who are knowingly responsible for or complicit in,
22:59or have directly or indirectly engaged in, the involuntary harvesting of organs in China.
23:05Anyone on the sanctions list would be unable to enter the United States or engage in US-based
23:09transactions and would have their current visas revoked. The bill also carries a civil penalty
23:14of up to $250,000 and a criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison for offenders.
23:22Over the past two years, three US states have enacted laws banning health insurers from funding
23:27organ transplant surgeries in China while the US Congress, UN-affiliated experts,
23:31and the European Parliament have publicly decried the gruesome practice.
23:36In 2023, the House overwhelmingly passed its first bill addressing forced organ harvesting
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