When Jobs, Banks, and Wages All Shift at Once: China’s Economic Reality

All right. Hi, everyone. Welcome. Welcome to Lei's Real Talk. Happy Thursday. Happy Friday. It's been a while since I talked about China's economy. At this point, it's no longer just about abstract micro-indicators or GDP targets discussed by economists. I think it's impossible to measure macroeconomic indexes for China right now. That pressure has now moved to the micro level, to the day-to-day survival of ordinary people. So let me ask you this. What does it mean when the most basic backstops of a society, hospitals, banks, even religious sites, stop protecting people and start taking from them instead? Let me give you three situations or scenes. In some parts of China, hospitals are overflowing. Patients are lining up. Resources are stretched. Doctors are exhausted. But at the same time, hospitals are shutting down. Not one or two, entire waves of them, some backed by billions in investment. Now, second scene. Young people are desperate for jobs. Competition is so intense that people with a PhD are looking for low-level clerical jobs. But at the same time, people are paying tens of thousands of yuan just to get a job that pays barely 2,500 yuan a month. And third scene. People are told to save, to trust the system, to put their money in the bank, but when they try to withdraw their own money, they're questioned, blocked, delayed. Or in some cases, the money is simply gone. So today, we're not going to talk about China's GDP numbers, its debt ratios, or the real estate downturn. Let's talk about something more direct. Let's discuss what China's economy actually feels like on the ground because that's the most meaningful at this point. Let me start with something fundamental, a sector that touches every family, healthcare. Because if there's one sector that should be stable, one sector that should always have demand, it's hospitals. People get sick regardless of the economy. Viruses don't care about GDP. And in recent years, China has gone through multiple waves of public health crisis. More patients, more demand, more revenue. So logically, hospitals should be doing okay. But that's not what's happening. Instead, we're seeing something that doesn't make sense. Recently, there's a hospital in Jiangxi province, Tianhe Hospital in Leping City, issued a notice announcing the dismissal of all of its staff. The hospital is completely shut down, a full shutdown. And that's not an isolated case. In recent years, major top-tier hospitals, in Chinese they call Sanjia Yiyuan, across the country have been overwhelmed with waves of outbreaks, infections, and diseases. Yet at the same time, that medical sources or medical resources are under intense pressure. A large number of small and mid-sized hospitals are going bankrupt and shutting down, including public hospitals. And that contradiction is now becoming impossible to ignore. Let me give you some numbers. According to data from China Hospital Association, or the China Hospital Association, in 2024, private hospitals were closing at an average rate of 1.4 hospitals per day, with an average loss of 5.53 million yuan per hospital. Then in 2025, the situation escalated. In just the first half of the year, roughly six months, 1,247 private hospitals shut down. That works out to be about seven hospital closures per day, not per month, per day. And this wave didn't spare the so-called star hospitals, the ones backed by tens of billions in investment. So hospitals such as Shenzhen's Ren'ai Hospital, and then Chengdu's Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine Hospital, and Beijing's Mai Rui Orthopedic Hospital, have all collapsed one after another. Others, including Mianyang's Kaiyuan Hospital, Changsha's Nanya Hospital, and Nanjing's Jiangning Yuechen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, have entered bankruptcy restructuring. And one particular striking case is Lu Xinan Hospital in Shandong. This was a massive project with an investment of 2 billion yuan. After declaring bankruptcy, it left behind 1.26 billion yuan in debt and 600 employees who had not been paid for eight months, eight months in a hospital, not being paid. And this is where things across the sector or the healthcare sector is sending an alarm bell. It has crossed an important line because this is no longer just a private sector problem. The crisis has also spread into the public system. Reports of unpaid wages are increasingly emerging from public hospitals across multiple regions. For example, in Guangdong, which is an affluent province, not a poor region in Guangdong, the affiliated hospital of Jiayin Medical College in Meizhou, which is a municipally run public general hospital, announced at the end of 2024 that it would suspend operation after 10 months of unpaid salaries. It hadn't paid or didn't pay its employees for 10 months, and then it shut down. We've also seen similar wage disputes and protests at Guangdong's Shanwei People's Hospital, again in Guangdong, and the Fourth People's Hospital in Xinxiang in Henan. So what's driving all of this? What's the internal logic behind a system where hospitals are full, but still collapsing? A doctor surnamed Zhang from Heilongjiang offers an explanation in an interview. He points out that during the three years of COVID lockdowns, the medical insurance fund was effectively drained. As reimbursements declined, hospital revenues were gutted, and that leads to a vicious cycle. Large hospitals in major cities are overwhelmed with patients, but they are losing money on each one because insurance no longer covers the full cost. At the same time, hospitals in smaller cities and rural areas are shutting down because of population decline. There aren't just enough patients to sustain them. So on one side, you have overcrowding. On the other, you have closures. Both sides are losing money at the same time. And that's the key point. It's no longer a temporary imbalance. The systemic disintegration of the medical system is no longer just a risk. It is the current reality. And it may be the clearest warning sign of not only China's fiscal crisis, but a crisis in the public service sector. Because you need hospitals. Hospitals need to be around. They can't go belly up. So that's one. And now let me move to the banks. If the collapse of the healthcare system we just discussed represents the breakdown of the social safety net, then what's happening in the financial sector strikes at the very heart of the social contract. In any modern society, banks are supposed to be the fortress of trust. But in China today, that fortress is being turned into a trap. Lately, the topic of difficulty in withdrawing money, or in Chinese, we say qu qian nan, has been exploding on social media. People are just having difficulties to withdraw money from banks. One story that went viral involved a lawyer in Shandong who simply tried to withdraw 40,000 yuan in cash. And that was about $32,000. He was interrogated, forced to provide multiple layers of documentation, and treated like a suspect. And this isn't just one bad bank teller. Across the country, commercial banks are now using the so-called National Anti-Fraud Center requirements as a people's own money. You want to open a debit card? You need to provide proof of employment. You want to transfer money? You have to explain your relationship to the recipient. You want to withdraw money? You must report exactly how you plan to use it. Of course, the banks aren't interested in any of this information. They're just trying to make it more difficult for you to take out money. It has become a de facto asset audit. And also, the bank wants to learn more. If you deposit a large sum, typically anything over 50,000 yuan, I mean, depositing money is much easier. They're not going to stop you from depositing money. They love your money. But you may be questioned about where it comes from. There are some questions that banks are required to ask now. So if you say it's salary, then they're going to ask you, did you pay your personal income tax? If you say it's freelance income, they're going to ask you about your 2% tax certificate. If it's business income, they're going to ask you about the business tax. So anywhere around the world, commercial banks are governed by the principle that says voluntary deposit and free withdrawal without strings attached, without questions asked. But today, anti-fraud measures are being used in ways that restrict basic property rights. There are now numerous accounts of citizens being unable to access their own funds. But as serious as difficulty in withdrawals are, something even more alarming is happening. Deposits are simply disappearing. On March, I believe, I don't know the date, but in the middle of March, a woman surnamed Cao, Ms. Cao from Xinjiang, came forward with her story in a video. I saw the video. The woman is in her 50s. And so in 2019, she deposited her life savings, 80,000 yuan, which is a little more than $10,000. She deposited her savings into a fixed-term account at a local branch of the Postal Savings Bank. It's almost like a CD. When she returned in 2020 to withdraw it, her balance was zero. She has been fighting for all these years, trying to get a resolution. Instead of investigating the banks, bank officials sent a lawyer to her home. I mean, instead of investigating the employees or the branch that's involved, her bank sent a lawyer to her home instead, warning her not to post the videos online to disturb the public. Guess what? She recorded a video and released it last month in March. And then there's a case in Henan, Xinjiang. A woman there reported that her 800,000 yuan deposit at a local ICBC branch had been taken without her consent and loaned to a real estate developer, chasing high returns. The developer collapsed. The bank now refuses to repay her. And there is video footage of her crying on the bank floor, but no one is really helping her. And then just this week, in April, maybe last week, a week ago, there's another situation in Tangshan, Hebei. A case involving the Agricultural Bank of China drew national attention. A woman deposited 29 million renminbi into a so-called regulatory account for a land auction transaction. Now, before the deposit, she even confirmed with the bank manager personally to ensure security. One week later, the balance was zero. The bank president refused to appear to address her grievances. The manager claimed that he had been tricked. And when the victim tried to post evidence online, her content was quickly deleted. At this point, it's no longer convincing to call these isolated incidents. What we're seeing is a broader breakdown of financial trust. And there are macro data that reinforces this. In 2025 alone, more than 440 banking institutions were dissolved or deregistered, and over 9,000 physical branches were shut down. So why is this happening? Because banks are under pressure. Banks are losing money. Their revenues are shrinking. With interest so low and bad debt ratio so high, the banks are losing money. And in that environment, some institutions begin looking for ways to stay afloat, including using depositors' funds as temporary liquidity patches to cover fiscal gaps. And this is the turning point. We are entering a phase where access to your own money is no longer guaranteed. And if the financial system is under this kind of strain, the question becomes, where does the system turn next? Well, when liquidity from healthcare and finance is no longer enough, pressure begins to shift toward other parts of society, including one of the last remaining asset pools. Guess what that is? The religious sector. In recent weeks, there have been reports of large-scale administrative actions targeting major religious sites. According to eyewitness accounts, there are various videos posted on social media showing that people's armed police have been deployed to historical temples at places such as Wutai Mountain, Putuo Mountain, and military presence has been spotted at historical temples such as Yongle Temple and Shaolin Temple. The scenes are striking. Armed vehicles have blocked temple entrances. Security personnel are stationed inside sacred spaces. Some sites have effectively been placed under military-style management. So what's happening? Well, according to internal sources, this broader campaign is expected to continue through at least 2027. It involves coordination across multiple government agencies, including the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Public Security, and the National Religious Affairs Administration. As of April 2026, more than 500 temples have reportedly been closed or rectified. The most famous temple, Shaolin Temple, or the most commercially successful temple because it's a martial arts temple, the surrounding commercial areas have been ordered, demolished by the end of the year. What's driving this? Some people say it's the fear. As the living environment is becoming harsher and more difficult, people have turned to temples for spiritual support. And that's a big fear. That's a no-no in a communist state because communism is supposedly your faith, your religion. So that's one reason. But then there's another level. It's fiscal pressure. The religious sector has always been tightly controlled by the state. China doesn't have religious freedom. So these temples are really not places of worship. Their government assets function as tourist attractions for commercial reasons. And they are highly profitable because there's no cost. Now in economic downturn, many Chinese go to temples to pray and they leave large donation money. So the religious sector is said to be loaded with money. I mean, I shouldn't say the religious because they're really not religious institutions. They're just tourist attractions. So following the fall of the abbot of Shaolin Temple last July, his name is Shi Yongxin, who is notoriously corrupt. He has, I don't know, as many as dozens of illegitimate children born with different mistresses. But anyways, so since his fall last July, authorities began tightening control over these temples. And in many cases, revenues that once stayed within temple systems, such as donations and tourism income, are now being redirected into broader state-controlled channels. There are also claims that some of these funds may be used to support government expenditures, including areas linked to security and national defense, or I should say PLA. What's clear is this. The temples of China have become ATMs for the CCP in a state of fiscal distress. Through military suppression and asset liquidation, the state has completed its final plunder of the religious realm. It reveals the underlying logic of a regime that will stop at nothing to extract every last resource for its own survival. Now let's talk about the labor market, which is essentially a story about survival versus stability. Ultimately, all of the pressure that we discussed shows up in one place, the labor market. If you want to understand the real condition of the economy, you don't look at press conferences. You look at the streets. Office buildings that were once full are now partially empty. Industrial parks that used to be packed with workers are quiet. In major cities, entire rows of shops once worth millions are now closed. At the same time, wages are falling. Now in provinces like Shaanxi and Yunnan, in county level areas, jobs such as preschool interns or hotel receptionists now pay 800 to 1000 yuan per month. That's between 140 to 160 dollars a month. That's barely enough to live or to eat. Many people describe this as going back 30 years. This is the kind of salary people made 30 years ago. At the top end, the situation is just as intense. We're seeing Beijing University PhDs competing for primary school teaching jobs. Traditional employment, reservoirs, real estate, education, tourism have largely dried up. Even having a job is no longer a guarantee that you'll be paid. Now, there's a case that got national attention a little while ago during the Lunar New Year period. More than 300 employees at a company, what's the name of that company? I think it's called Beijing Rui An Technology. They attempted to defend their rights and demand unpaid wages for the past two years. They were not paid for two years, but they were met with threats from the company. Specifically, threats to suspend their social security payments. Now, a public WeChat account reported on the case, but the article was quickly deleted. According to that report, Rui An Technology had been withholding wages for 24 consecutive months, with total unpaid wages exceeding 80 million yuan. More than 300 employees and their families have been pushed to the brink. When employees raised legitimate demands, the company responded in two ways. On the surface, it promised that wages would be paid. In reality, it imposed forced salary cuts of 30 to 50 percent, carried out large-scale layoffs, and refused to provide any compensation. Now, employees who have made the issue public are receiving repeated threats. Now, why this story matters so much is this company is not just any company. It has been around for more than two decades and is jointly owned by the Ministry of Public Security. And this is why the story becomes so telling. This company, Rui An Technology, was founded or jointly owned by the Third Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, and another SOE, the Aerospace Industrial Development Company, which is a state-owned, publicly listed entity on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. So yeah, it's state-owned and it's listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. And Rui An provides big data and information solutions to a wide range of government and institutional clients, including public security agencies, cyber security and internet administration agencies, CCP's court system, China's power companies and telecom operators, the military, and emergency management agencies. In short, this is a company created by the state and working for the state. And it's not in some remote third-tier city. It is in Beijing. And yet even there, workers are going unpaid for two years. That tells you China's fiscal stress. And that kind of environment creates something deeper than just economic pressure. It creates insecurity. And that insecurity is now shaping behavior and mindset. It's driving a growing obsession with one word, stability. I'm going to tell you something that just happened, and it's really strange. Now, in April, a scandal broke, again, also in Guangdong, in a place called Yangjiang. And these are all publicly reported. All the information that I'm reading you today, almost 90% of them came from official sources. So in Yangjiang, they discovered a scandal. What it was was that 12 people paid a total of 300,000 yuan or $45,000 in middleman fees just to secure jobs as high-speed rail security inspectors. Think about that. Up to 45,000 yuan or $6,500 per person. That's the most that they paid. Some people paid less. Some people paid 25,000 yuan, which is about 4,000 US dollars. But the highest was 45,000 yuan or $6,500. For a job that pays 2,500 yuan a month and requires 16-hour shifts, 2,500 yuan is like a little over $300 a month. Yeah, $320 a month. So what people are doing is they paid one year's salary as a bribe to get a job that pays less monthly. It just doesn't make sense. It's literally paying for a life of poverty. But it reflects a deeper fear. In some of the paid industries, such as high-tech and finance, there is a so-called 35-year-old rule. What it says is that companies only hire people under 35. If you're over 35, no, they'll pass. So many people would rather sacrifice their savings for something that looks stable, a government job, than face the uncertainty of the open job market. So a high-speed rail station security inspector is a government job. It doesn't pay well. It pays 2,500 yuan a month, but it's long-term, and the job is easy. So that's why people are willing to pay 40,000 yuan. They're more than one year of their salary to get a job that pays 2,500 yuan a month, because they're in for the long term. And for those at the very bottom, even that option doesn't exist. The gig economy is no longer a safety net. Now, delivery fees have dropped to about 4 yuan per order, with real hourly wages of just 10 to 15 yuan. And if you do the math, that's about 2,500 yuan a month, assuming they work 10 hours a day and six days a week. And 2,500 yuan is about 320 to 330 dollars a month. Think about that. That's even lower than Vietnam, right? That 330 dollars a month in Vietnam is low income. So could you imagine China's income has tanked so much? So this downward spiral is creating a growing and largely invisible population of the displaced. According to China's own National Bureau of Data, as of August last year, there were approximately 47.5 million homeless people in China. I know that number does not resonate, but what that number means is that's a five-fold increase since the year 2020. So within five years, the number of homeless in China grew five times. And this is according to the official data. And 61% of them, 61% of the homeless people are under the age of 33. So the face of homelessness in China is getting younger. And you can see it on the ground. In places like Majuqiao, a well-known labor hub in Beijing, long lines form every day for five yuan boxed meals. Meals that cost them five yuan. That's about 70 cents. Two vegetables and rice. That's it. So for many unemployed workers and recent graduates, that isn't a choice. That's their only option. So from 800 yuan monthly wages, in smaller cities, to five yuan meals in Beijing, the idea of upward mobility is gone. This is no longer just an economic slowdown. It's the closing of the door for an entire country. Now, I want to tell you a little bit about the external shocks, the price of war. I saw two pieces of information that I think are very telling. And well, as the conflict escalates in the Middle East, the ripple effects are hitting China's labor market and logistics system with full force. And there's a report coming out that says that on March 25th, as tensions between Iran and Israel intensified, or Iran, Israel, and the US intensified, the Chinese embassy in Israel announced an emergency evacuation. But what followed was unexpected. Among the roughly 50,000 to 60,000 Chinese construction workers in Israel, many refused to leave. And the reason is simple. In Israel, a construction worker can earn between 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a month. That's $4,000 to $5,200. And in some cases, they can make up to 70,000 or even 80,000 yuan. That's $10,000 to $11,000. More importantly, they get paid. To secure these jobs, many of these workers, often men in their 40s supporting families, paid intermediary fees ranging from 50,000 to 150,000 yuan. Some even had to win lottery just for the opportunity to work in Israel. And so for them, the calculation is clear. They say that they'd rather be bombed than going broke in China. So this is the ultimate expression of a broken labor market. People choosing a literal battlefield over the economic conditions at home. At the same time, for those inside China, even leaving the country is becoming more difficult. Just very recently, airlines, including Air China, Spring Airlines, China Eastern and China Southern, have been canceling international flights on a large scale, especially to Southeast Asia and Oceania. And the numbers are striking. I have some numbers. For example, Guangzhou to Darwin, there's an 83% cancellation rate. From Hangzhou to Auckland, 57% cancellation rate. From Wuhan to Sydney, 50% cancellation. And the cancellations to Southeast Asia are also high. So why? Well, because of surge in aviation fuel costs, driven by instability in the Middle East. Chinese airlines are now losing money on flights. And to limit those losses, they are canceling routes and raising prices. The result, thousands of travelers stranded, money lost on hotels and bookings. There's no compensation for them. So as we wrap up my talk today, let's step back and look at the bigger picture. Individually, these cases may seem unrelated. Hospitals closing, yeah, that happens in any country. Banks restricting withdrawals, that doesn't happen in any country. Temples being taken over by the military. Workers struggling to survive. People pay a bribe. People pay someone a bribe as much as the annual salary just to get a government job. When you put all of them together, a pattern begins to emerge. What we're seeing is not a series of isolated problems. It's a system under stress. And in that system, one principle becomes clear. The survival of the system itself is taking priority over the well-being of the people within it. Institutions that were once meant to protect are now being used to extract. And when a system begins to rely on that kind of logic, the cost gets passed on to workers, to families, and to ordinary people. So what we're witnessing is not just economic adjustment. It's the bill. Coming due. And it's coming. So hopefully I have given you an overview of China's economic reality on the ground. And I think that's more telling than any economic data coming out of China at this point. All right, now I want to share something with you. Chris told me on Monday that he wants to write a song. And so he said he wants to write a song to tell the story of his generation, the young generation of Asian, young men in Asia. And I said, go ahead. Great. Write it. And so right before this live stream, he said, I have a song you can play after the live if you want. This song tells the story of a young person who leaves home chasing big dreams. As reality sets in, they face loneliness, failure, and uncertainty. I know that this song would be fitting for the talk that we have tonight. And I know it means a lot to Chris because he really wants to tell the story of his generation. So let me play it here. I quickly listened and I really love it. I haven't seen the lyrics. So let's see what he has done. Here it is. Let me just make sure that the audio will play. There we go. I'm going to play. Can you guys hear? I just want to make sure the audio play because I don't want to enjoy the whole song without having you guys hearing it. Tell me if you can actually hear the music. Yes. Someone tell me if you can hear the audio. Yes. OK, Tina said yes. All right, good. OK, here we go. Here's Chris's song of the month. OK. This city never sleeps, neon lights, but no one really sees. I walk alone through strangers echoes, carrying dreams I used to keep. Worn out shoes and silent pockets, a name no one calls anymore. In a place that doesn't know my story, I'm still searching for something more. The day I left, I swore I'd make it return with pride, with something to show. Though life came crashing like an ocean, I'm still holding on below. Years ago, I had a dream so certain to come back home in glory and gold. The ruthless winds passed through my life so quietly, they never broke the soul I hold. Now I'm standing at a thousand crossroads, still afraid but moving on. Even if my youth has slipped like dust, the fire inside is not gone. There were faces once that meant forever, now they fade like rain on glass. Promises we made together couldn't seem to last. Old friends scattered in all directions, some found light, some lost their way. But somewhere in those broken stories, there's a part of me that stays. Years ago, I had a dream so certain to come back home in glory and gold. The ruthless winds passed through my life so quietly, they never broke the soul I hold. I call out to the past I buried, and I hear a voice reply. Not every road was meant to be easy, but it taught me how to try. Wow. I'm all in tears. Chris, this is the second time you have me crying like a baby. I mean, this is just so touching. I couldn't help but think of all the sad stories I read about the young people's struggle in China and also in other parts of Asia. Well, what a beautiful job you did. It's touching. Beautiful and sad. I don't know about you, but I hope this is not how you feel after five years of working for me. I hope you feel better than that. Yeah. Okay, let's hear from Chris. I hope this is not how you feel. Chris once told me that this is the longest job he has ever had since college. And oh, someone said, Lay, don't cry. It's sad but beautiful. Yeah. So I hope this job is meaningful to you. All right. But it's a beautiful song. All right. Okay. So let's see. What do people have for me? And people say, I love the melody and lyrics of the song. Brilliant. Well here, Chris is here. Oh my goodness. Lay is all... I need to stay together as one piece. All right. Okay. Chris say, I love this job. Okay. I know. Well, write more songs for us. Yeah. You have a talent. Certainly you're very, very talented. All right. Let me first acknowledge the people who gave me super stickers. I think I saw some of them. Let me see. Oh, here's one. Live animal, private credit bubble, data center bubble, Ukraine war, Iran war. It seems like a perfect storm. We have entered alternate reality ever since COVID. Yes, we are. We are getting very close. But I still think this is better than COVID because the world is still moving in all sorts of directions. Whereas COVID, we're all stopped. So yeah, it may seem as crazy as it is, but I think it's still better than COVID. But thank you. Thank you for the support. Someone says thank you. All right. Here's one. Click all night. Click all night. Lay, I've heard companies find employees for petty reasons to reduce their pay to the point they typically make much less than statistics indicate. Have you heard this? I have not, but I'm not surprised if they do that. Because look at, I mean, there's so many companies that have withheld pay, but people don't leave. And you wonder why? Because especially government jobs. I think in private sector, it's people would just quit. But in the public sector, people don't want to quit because people want government jobs. It's not easy to have a iron bowl, iron rice bowl. So that's why they wouldn't leave. And then the government knows that. Because look, people pay a bribe to get a job, a low paying government job. So those who have government jobs will not quit. And the government knows this. And so they take advantage of people's mindset. So I'm not surprised if they find some employers find employees for petty reasons. I'm not surprised. It's the equivalent of not paying. But it's even worse because when you not pay, then you're held accountable. But when you find your employees, you are accusing them of wrongdoing and to legitimize your not paying. So that's bad. This is terrible. Jean Burns Jr., you need to replace the CCP with a duplicate of the United States Constitution. But our law, Islam, Satanism, and Marxism. I need to? Do I have the power to replace the CCP? We can give it a try when we all work together. But I alone cannot do it. All right, let's see. Someone said, the United States of China, duplicate of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, guaranteed to outperform CCP. I agree. Any government, the one in Taiwan will outperform the CCP many times. Any form of government would do better. All right, let me move on. Many Kyla, when you have visited Taiwan, have you noticed how well high speed trains and normal trains work there? I have taken the high speed trains a couple of times. I have not taken the normal trains. I have taken the local subways. Taiwan's subways are so convenient, clean, and orderly. The high speed trains are very efficient as well. Taiwan is great. Okay, let me see. Questions, comments. Robert Shore. Are the CCP elites having difficulty withdrawing their money from the banks? Are they being questioned for deposits and withdrawals? Will this cause dissent among the Chinese people? Well, I think the bulk of their elites' money are overseas. They're not in China. And if they're in China, they're probably under the names of white gloves. It's not necessarily under their name. The Chinese officials are notorious in hiding their money. Some keep their money as cash. They have a room full of cash stored. They have rented apartments just to store their cash. So it's very difficult for banks to know how much money they have, because it's not under their names. And therefore, they probably don't need to withdraw their money if they have that much cash sitting in another apartment. They could just go to the apartment and get some money. They can be the banks. They can start a banking business, but then they'll be caught. All right, let me see. All right, there's some angry trolls here. All right, people can hear me. Sounds good. People can hear me. We can hear very well. All right. People love Chris's song. I do too. All right, let's see. No more questions. Everyone loves your song, Chris. All right. Okay, here's one. Chris, for the honesty and vulnerability it took to write and express the depth of your song. Thanks for sharing. Respect. I think Chris's song speaks the mind of many young men or young people in Asia, not just in China, but in places like Vietnam as well. Yeah, so people are not, nobody's speaking up for them. So I'm glad that Chris, you wrote a song to express that feeling. It needs to be said. All right. Someone said, late dated Swalwell back in the early 2000s. I didn't really go to California. I'm not too crazy about California. I went to San Francisco. I mean, I found San Francisco's weather. The summers in San Francisco are so cold. And then Los Angeles is just a place that's so big and vast. And from point A to point B, you need to drive a good 50 minutes. Although Los Angeles has some of the best Chinese restaurants in the country, I must say, better than the ones in New York. Anyways, I know you're disappointed. What a beautiful song. Absolutely. Seek the truth. Now is the perfect time to release the reports and data of the immense wealth the CCP elites have accumulated and get it out to the people. They will be outraged. Yes, absolutely. The United States government has that information. So it will be one of the tools that Trump can use to negotiate with the CCP. All right. Someone claimed, Vincent, don't the Chinese government have taxes on the amount of money being made by Chinese people, workers, and government workers? What do you mean? You mean income taxes? Well, the Chinese people are so heavily taxed. You'll be surprised. Tax in China is very high. Business tax and individual tax. But when the economic engine is shut down, then the government's tax revenue is dead. I mean, there's just no thriving business that are contributing to the tax revenue. And that's the problem. All right. I reached the bottom. Forget L.A. and San Francisco. Visit Avila Beach, Morro Bay, Cambria on the Central Coast. Beautiful and good weather. Yeah. Every time I went to California, it was for business. So it's usually San Francisco and Los Angeles. And I'm not impressed by these two cities at all. San Francisco is a beautiful city, but the summer is unbearably cold. I like cities with four clear seasons. So San Francisco seems to have just one season. All right. Okay. I think that's all. Here's a question from edgy number one. What is likely to happen when the CCP attacks Taiwan? What plan does Taiwan have? I can't answer what plan does Taiwan have, but what is likely to happen? I'm afraid that Taiwan, I mean, what plan? Recently, there's a case. They just prosecute half a dozen Taiwanese servicemen for espionage. I heard that. Yeah, something like that. So the biggest concern for Taiwan is not defense capability. It's CCP's infiltration in their society. That's their number one concern. That should be their number one concern. Oh, San Diego is beautiful. Yeah, I love San Diego. Yeah, I've been to San Diego. It's a beautiful city. All right. How about we end it here? We end it here. I need to clean up my face. I'll be back on weekend, on this weekend. All right. Okay. Thank you very much for joining me and see you next in two days. Bye. Like the Hawaiian shirt. Thank you. Bye.