How Miserable Is China’s Return to Poverty? Why Doesn’t the CCP Fear Economic Collapse?

Wenzhou, Zhejiang in revolt. Officials lead police to beat villagers, fighting for water resources, elderly injured and hospitalized. Thousands attend Liu's funeral in case of CCP official beating citizen to death, authorities block roads and brutally suppress. Xiaomi fans are devastated with complaints flooding in. Xiaomi's imitation and shortcuts are blatant rip-offs of the iPhone 17. Prophet predicts the CCP and Xi Jinping will collapse together. How miserable is China's return to poverty? Why doesn't the CCP fear economic collapse? Poland closes border, hundreds of China-Europe trains stranded, Wang Yi's lobbying fails. You're watching Decoding China, where we bring you timely analysis and grounded perspectives on today's China. Wenzhou, Zhejiang in revolt. Officials lead police to beat villagers, fighting for water resources, elderly injured and hospitalized. On September the 8th, 2025, in Chengdian Village, Billion Town, Yangjia County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, a serious confrontation broke out over a water supply project. Hundreds of villagers gathered at the village entrance, holding homemade banners and chanting slogans such as, give us back our water, the government seizure is shameful, in an attempt to block the advance of about 200 police officers and security personnel. Villagers stressed that they were not rioters, but ordinary residents who had relied on natural spring water for generations and now felt betrayed by the authorities. The villagers' demands were straightforward, to continue using their own spring water, which was cheap and clean. However, the response was not dialogue, but force. During the clashes, three villagers were injured and hospitalized, including one elderly man who suffered a broken bone. Local authorities quickly labeled the protest as a riot. And under police protection, construction of the new water system proceeded that same night. The dispute began earlier in spring 2025, when Billion Town authorities and a water company announced plans to build a centralized water supply system in Chengdian. Villagers would be forced to abandon their long-used spring water and switch to tap water at a cost of three yuan per ton, six times higher than their current water, while the quality, they argued, was worse. Many suspected that the real intention was to divert Chengdian's high-quality spring water to urban areas for development, sacrificing rural interests. Online, many netizens criticized the move, accusing the government of seizing villagers' water to sell to city residents while forcing farmers to pay six times more. On September 8th, when 200 police officers and security guards, led by the town's deputy party secretary, entered the village to enforce construction, the confrontation escalated quickly. Villagers raised banners and used wooden sticks and farm tools to block the way. Video footage circulating online showed police wielding batons and security guards pushing elderly villagers, with several collapsing to the ground, visibly injured. Most villagers were elderly and soon exhausted, unable to continue resisting. Observers note that the Chengdian incident is not isolated, but part of a wider trend as China faces mounting economic challenges. The property market has collapsed, the stock market continues to slump, and small and medium-sized enterprises are closing at record levels. Unemployment is rising while local governments, short of revenue, are increasingly turning to rural resources, land, forests, and water supplies, to fill budget gaps. Similar cases have been reported nationwide in recent years. In Guangdong, villagers accused a local party secretary of seizing village wells. In Henan, farmers protesting land seizures were suppressed by police. These disputes highlight intensifying tensions between rural residents and local authorities. The role of the police has been a particular focus of criticism. Instead of protecting villagers' rights, they stood with the government and the water company to ensure construction proceeded. This has fueled concerns that law enforcement is being used as a tool of control rather than a safeguard for the people. Ultimately, the Chengdian protest was silenced. The injured were taken to hospital, demonstrators were forced to disperse, and the construction project continued under police protection. The water company secured its profits, and local officials declared the project a successful livelihood improvement while presenting society as stable and harmonious. Yet beneath this appearance of calm, resentment remains. Some netizens bypassed internet controls to share videos and photos abroad, insisting this was the only way to reveal the truth. Calls for emigration have also grown louder, with many arguing that the current environment is no longer livable. The tragedy of Chengdian Village has become a stark example of grassroots conflict in today's China. When even access to basic necessities like drinking water cannot be guaranteed, and when protests are suppressed rather than addressed, the social tensions only deepen. The key question now is whether such confrontations will continue to erupt across the country, or whether the government can find meaningful solutions to address the grievances of its people. Thousands attend Liu's funeral in case of CCP official beating citizen to death, authorities block roads and brutally suppress. History has shown that the coldest season is not winter itself, but the moment when justice falls silent and lies are allowed to prevail. That silence is now echoing across Hebei province after the death of Liu Mingyao, a young pregnant woman beaten to death by her husband, Jin Hao, an outstanding party member and procuratorate worker whose privileged status has fueled outrage nationwide. On August 29th, 2025, Liu's funeral drew thousands from across the region, a turnout far beyond family and close friends. Authorities responded by blocking roads, deploying plainclothes police, and frantically censoring online videos of the event. Footage that briefly circulated online showed thousands of mourners walking in solemn procession, their cries of grief filling the air. Young bystanders spontaneously joined the march, turning the funeral into an outpouring of collective anger and sorrow. Reports indicate that local authorities began dispatching plainclothes police to Liu's village before dawn. Travelers who came from outside the county described roadblocks preventing cars from entering the area, while Weibo topics related to the case vanished almost instantly. According to earlier Chinese media reports, the tragedy began on the evening of August 21st when a drunken Jin Hao viciously attacked his wife at their home. The next morning, only after hours of delay, Liu was taken to the hospital by Jin's family. By then, she was already dead. On August 26th, Jin's mother obtained a hospital-issued certificate claiming Liu died of a heart attack. Outraged and unconvinced, Liu's relatives demanded a second autopsy. The results exposed the truth. Blunt force trauma to the head, extensive bruising across her body, multiple fractures, and lung injuries. The gap between a violent beating and a supposed heart attack was so obvious that it raised chilling questions about the hospital's role in the attempted cover-up. In this case, Liu's family pursued the truth relentlessly, forcing the real cause of death into the open. But what if the cause had been less visible? Poison, for instance. And the hospital again reported heart failure. Would any family have the resources to prove otherwise? And if the truth cannot be exposed, what voice would remain for victims? Liu's family also accused local police of obstruction. While officers barred them from entering Jin's residence to collect evidence, Jin's mother was granted free access, allowing her to allegedly destroy surveillance footage and clean the crime scene. Meanwhile, official narratives about Jin himself shifted rapidly. Once hailed as an outstanding party member, he was suddenly rebranded by the procuratorate as merely a temporary labor dispatch worker. Locals whispered that his family's deep ties within both the government and the hospital had long shielded him from accountability. Friends and relatives recounted that Jin Hao had shown violent tendencies since his school days. Liu's family had opposed the marriage, but Liu Mingyao chose to marry him. Only to endure beatings as early as 10 days after the wedding. The immediate spark for the fatal assault was Jin Hao's affair with a female colleague at the procuratorate, who became pregnant and pressured him to divorce. When Liu refused to leave the marriage for the sake of their three-year-old child, the confrontation escalated. Jin Hao beat his wife to death. Even as she was carrying their second child, three months pregnant, public outrage surged as Liu's family took to the internet to demand justice. Three days later, under heavy pressure, authorities announced the arrest of Jin Hao and his mother. The case was transferred to an external jurisdiction. Though many doubt whether true justice will follow, Liu Mingyao's death has become more than a case of domestic violence. It is a searing indictment of systemic corruption, privilege, and cover-up under CCP rule. The roadblocks, the censorship, the hospital's false report, and the police obstruction reveal a system designed to protect insiders while silencing victims. The thousands who marched in Liu's funeral procession were not only mourning her, they were also condemning a political structure that sacrifices truth for stability and shields the powerful from accountability. Unless genuine transparency and impartial justice are allowed to prevail, this tragedy will stand as yet another symbol of how the party's promises of fairness ring hollow and how the cries for justice in China continue to be drowned out by repression. Xiaomi fans are devastated with complaints flooding in. Xiaomi's imitation and shortcuts are blatant rip-offs of the iPhone 17. An executive of Xiaomi made a bold statement. Only by confronting iPhone directly can we have the chance to catch up with and surpass iPhone. Yet immediately after, a member of the audience bluntly said, I really didn't expect that Xiaomi would fully confront iPhone starting right from the name. When I saw Xiaomi 17, I honestly felt sick. This is not confrontation, this is blatant copying. Very quickly, Xiaomi became a laughingstock online when the Xiaomi 16 was suddenly renamed as Xiaomi 17. The hottest topic across forums was, eat, sleep, curse, Xiaomi. Many users expressed embarrassment, with some even saying they were preparing to abandon Xiaomi phones altogether. Some extreme voices went as far as declaring that iPhone was doomed, now facing a direct challenger in Xiaomi 17. They called on Chinese citizens to buy Xiaomi if they truly loved their country, accusing those who chose iPhone of being traitors or lackeys. But the reality is different. If someone complains about iPhone being laggy, having weak signal, or even outright calls it garbage, Apple won't block their accounts or file lawsuits. Yet, criticizing some other brands openly could easily land users in trouble. This stark contrast only fueled public anger toward Xiaomi's approach. The decision to jump from 16 to 17, according to CEO Lei Jun, was to fully confront the iPhone 17 and face it head on. But many mocked the move, saying that if Xiaomi really wanted to lead, why not call it Xiaomi 18? Or even Xiaomi One 17, to be 100 years ahead. For longtime Xiaomi fans, this stunt was simply intolerable. Apple launched iPhone 17, so Xiaomi copied the number 17, even duplicating the Pro Max naming. This was not learning from a rival, but a disturbing imitation that disgusted many. Xiaomi defended the renaming as a reflection of a major upgrade, similar to when Apple released the iPhone X. But the difference was that iPhone X introduced real breakthroughs, face ID, and the edge-to-edge display. Xiaomi, on the other hand, had nothing comparable to justify its new name. Users pointed out that MIUI used to be smooth and efficient, but is now riddled with ads and stutters. Instead of improving quality, Xiaomi seemed more concerned with marketing tricks, leaving the community deeply disappointed. On September 12th at 8 p.m., the iPhone 17 officially went on sale in China. Apple's website crashed under overwhelming traffic, and the first three models sold out instantly. Immediately after, Xiaomi announced it was skipping 16 to launch Xiaomi 17, openly declaring its battle against Apple. But this move was widely seen as pure bandwagoning, sparking a storm of criticism online. Some netizens highlighted that Xiaomi, like many other domestic brands, has long been promoted as a national brand under state protection. However, their so-called leading technology is often the product of copying or stealing. Like teacher, like student, one user commented, all fake, all plagiarized, all exaggerated. Comments on the Weibo pages of Lei Jun and Liu Weibing showed how furious Xiaomi fans really were. Many accused the company of damaging its brand identity by renaming its flagship line to Copy iPhone, calling it an act of weakness rather than strength. To them, this behavior was not only cheap, but also a betrayal of loyal fans, Adding to the controversy, many people noticed that even in its product live streams, Xiaomi wasn't using its own devices to broadcast, but rather Apple iPhones. This further fueled the perception that even Xiaomi itself lacked confidence in its own products, intensifying public backlash. Meanwhile, in the automotive sector, the story of copycatting continued. Xiaomi's electric car, which resembles a Porsche by as much as 90%, was filed under a design patent as if it were an original creation. Critics ridiculed the move, saying it was like copying someone's homework and then tearing up their notebook. Even car accessories such as Xiaomi's keys were accused of imitating Porsche. Yet the difference was stark. Xiaomi's key sells for 300 yuan, while Porsche's costs 8,000 yuan and comes with thoughtful details Xiaomi can't replicate, like built-in lighting and even a lighter function. Not a few bloggers argued that Xiaomi, despite earning over 300 billion yuan in annual profit, continues to squeeze small domestic factories instead of investing in core technologies. With such resources, they said, Xiaomi should be competing with Apple and Samsung directly, not taking away the livelihood of small local businesses. Prophet predicts the CCP and Xi Jinping will collapse together. How miserable is China's return to poverty? Why doesn't the CCP fear economic collapse? Prophet Parker has declared, the CCP and Xi Jinping will collapse together, no later than the end of 2026. In his prophecy on September 3rd, he emphasized that his prediction of the CCP's disintegration will certainly come true and Xi Jinping cannot remain in power beyond 2026. This immediately recalls the famous which foretold that the CCP would perish between 2025 and 2026. The striking similarity between Parker's prophecy and the stone's prediction has reinforced the belief that Xi Jinping's downfall and the CCP's collapse will likely happen simultaneously. Parker also warned that before the final collapse, China will face an economic catastrophe and this economic breakdown will be the decisive blow that destroys the regime. So where does today's tragedy for ordinary Chinese people begin? Before 2020, real estate became the biggest trap. Developers colluded with the government and flooded the media with slogans. If you don't buy a house, you won't be able to marry. Speculation in property is the only way for ordinary people to preserve wealth and get rich. Success stories of buying property and getting rich were everywhere, luring the masses into heavy debt. Developers raked in huge profits, banks thrived, and the government made vast sums through land sales and taxation. But in reality, this was nothing more than mortgaging decades of future income. Many who bought homes during 2019-2021 are now completely trapped, becoming property slaves. They once believed prices could never fall because the government would intervene. But in fact, the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by the CCP and speculators has led to today's national debt disaster. Household debt has now reached a critical point. According to 2025 figures, real estate accounts for 70% of total household debt. When property prices fell by more than 10%, household wealth evaporated by 15 trillion yuan. The secondhand market plunged first, amplifying panic selling. With high debt combined with collapsing home prices, the middle class has been locked in the mortgage trap and consumption has frozen. In this context, many ask, does the CCP fear economic collapse and regime instability? The answer is no, because its rule does not rest on economic prosperity, but on systemic exploitation and totalitarian control. China today has a population of 1.4 billion with about 97 million party members, but only around 10 million truly control the allocation of resources. The remaining 87 million members are mostly grassroots officials, teachers, doctors, state employees with no real power, but tightly bound to the system. The structure of control rests on 10 million at the top, 87 million in passive cooperation, and 1.3 billion silent masses. Among them, the 300 million working age urban residents with stable jobs, taxable income, and purchasing power are the lifeblood of the totalitarian machine. The CCP has designed a precise mechanism to harvest from these 300 million people. As long as each one is drained of 10,000 yuan a year, the regime extracts 3 trillion yuan annually, equivalent to more than 15% of the central government's public budget revenue in 2023. This is not governance, it is systemic plunder. And where does the money go? Not to improve people's lives, but to feed the regime's priority systems. The stability maintenance apparatus of police, state security, armed police, surveillance networks, and Skynet projects. The propaganda system including CCTV, People's Daily, Xinhua, and algorithm-controlled platforms like Weibo and Douyin. The military-industrial complex developing hypersonic missiles, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines with the PLA's opaque but massive budget. The United Front system infiltrating Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, overseas Chinese communities, universities, and media abroad. And the dollar diplomacy system, pouring billions into Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific to buy UN votes and geopolitical influence, despite heavy losses in the Belt and Road Initiative. The CCP's strategy of rule does not rely on full public obedience. It only needs the top 10 million to profit and remain loyal. The 300 million core population to be trapped in financial pressure and overwork, and the remaining one billion to stay silent, distrustful, and disorganized. Society becomes a giant prison, outwardly stable, but inwardly paralyzed. No large-scale uprising occurs because information is censored, organizations dismantled, and laws manipulated. No genuine public opinion exists because all media is state-controlled. No effective class solidarity forms because the poor are left to fight among themselves. This is a dynamic form of totalitarian stability, built not on mass support, but on fragmented submission. Xi Jinping knows that as long as propaganda, repression tools, and stability maintenance funding continue, the party state's grip remains firm. He would rather suppress Alibaba and Tencent than risk losing control. Rather allow unemployment to rise than tolerate free speech. Rather see economic regression than jeopardize regime security. This is not a mistake. It is a deliberate strategy. The CCP does not want the people to be prosperous. The party leader is not an emperor in the traditional sense, for emperors, even flawed ones, still saw themselves as the fathers of their people, caring for their subjects as children. The CCP, in contrast, plays the role of a servant who, once in control, exploits the master's weakness to seize his wealth. More importantly, the CCP functions like a communist specter, a ghostly parasite attached to the body of the Chinese nation. Just as worms in the stomach or cancer cells in the body drain nutrients without regard for the host's survival, the party spirit only seeks to extract everything from the people without empathy or care. The CCP is not there to share prosperity with 1.4 billion citizens. It only wants to drain them dry. This is the true logic behind why the CCP does not fear economic collapse. It has never relied on the economy to win hearts, but instead turns human beings into resources, uses violence to enforce silence, and lies to justify its rule. The cost of this machinery is nothing less than the lives of countless ordinary people. Poland closes border, hundreds of China-Europe trains stranded, Wang Yi's lobbying fails. Poland has made a shocking decision to close its entire border with Belarus, paralyzing a key freight corridor from China to Europe. More than 300 China-Europe freight trains are now stuck in Belarusian territory, severely disrupting the supply chain and pushing many businesses into a difficult situation. This move came after Russia and Belarus launched their joint military exercise, Zapad 2025, on September 12th. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that one of the main objectives of the exercise was the Suwałki Corridor, considered a fatal weakness. If a full-scale war breaks out. Shortly afterward, Warsaw announced the border closure in response. When Russian drones entered Polish airspace, the government immediately extended the blockade. All cross-border railway, road, and truck transport roads were shut down, completely cutting off the China-Europe rail link. On September 15th, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a three-hour meeting with his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, to persuade him to reopen the border, but the attempt failed. Warsaw firmly rejected the request, stressing that the border can only be reopened if neighboring countries maintain peace. Beijing later urged all parties to restore the normal operation of the China-Europe rail route. This incident directly affects major e-commerce platforms, such as Temu and Shane, which rely heavily on rail transport to ship goods to Europe. Time-sensitive products, which need to reach customers on schedule, are now at risk of delayed delivery. Marek Rozicki, CEO of logistics company Last Mile Experts, warned that if the rail line remains blocked, some shipments will have to be diverted to sea transport, while up to 30% would need to go by air. This will inevitably drive up costs and impact service quality. German rail freight operator DB Cargo also stated that the suspension of transport would cause serious disruption to carriers already under pressure, but emphasized that it fully understands and supports the Polish government's decision in the interest of national security. Before this crisis, the China-Europe railway was regarded as a vital artery of trade. In 2024, the volume of rail freight increased by 10.6%, compared to the previous year, with the total value of goods reaching over 25 billion euros, an 85% surge. Rail freight now accounts for 3.7% of total China-EU trade, up significantly from 2.1% in 2023. Poland has insisted that the border closure was driven by defense and security concerns, stressing that even after the Zapad 2025 drills end, the blockade will remain in place. Both NATO and Poland have strengthened their military deployments along Europe's eastern flank. International experts believe the disruption of the freight corridor is primarily the result of Poland's security policy, with no direct evidence that it specifically targets China. Meanwhile, two alternative land routes through Central Asia and the Middle East exist in theory, but remain unfeasible in the short term. Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, global trade is becoming increasingly fragmented, supply chains are being reshaped, and Moscow shows little interest in serving as a transit hub between China and the European Union. This latest development not only disrupts trade, but also highlights the vulnerability of the China-Europe railway to political and military turmoil in the region. Your feedback matters. Share your views in the comments. If this content resonated with you, we invite you to share it with your network. Your continued support empowers us to pursue independent, high-quality journalism. 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