Cai Qi Has Wilted: Jiang Kun Has Slain the 'American Slaughter Line' 

U.S.-China Confrontation. (Video screenshot)

[People News] On December 25, 2025, Christmas Day, the Chinese Communist Party presented a particularly unique gift for this Western holiday. Two distinct red 'patriotic' spectacles erupted online, and unexpectedly, these two carefully staged performances collided, revealing a tragic 'patriotic car crash' to the world. 

In the days surrounding Christmas, the 'American Slaughter Line' public opinion campaign led by Cai Qi was fervently promoted within China. Meanwhile, on Christmas Day, across the ocean, former president of the China Quyi Artists Association and crosstalk master Jiang Kun, along with a group of red artists, sang passionately in his 800-square-meter mansion in Los Angeles, California, proclaiming, 'I and my motherland can never be separated for a moment.' 

The 'American Slaughter Line' was intended to demonise the United States and belittle the capitalist system, but unexpectedly, Jiang Kun's 'offshore patriotic show' swiftly dismantled it. Cai Qi, the 'Grand Minister of Internal Affairs' responsible for ideology, had hoped to gain favour from this initiative, but it seems he has now completely wilted. 

Recently, on social media platforms such as Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, as well as party media outlets like Observer Network and Phoenix Network, and numerous self-media accounts, there has been a collective promotion of the so-called 'American Slaughter Line' concept. 

The term 'slaughter line' originally comes from RPG games, referring to the critical threshold at which an enemy unit's health is reduced to a level that can be killed by specific skills or combinations. Once the enemy player reaches this threshold, they are immediately slain with no chance of resistance.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) employs this term to describe the phenomenon where the American middle class, upon losing their jobs or facing a medical crisis, can suddenly plummet to the lowest social tier, reaching a survival threshold that transforms them into homeless individuals, leading to an irreversible decline in their fate. In CCP terminology, this is referred to as the middle class falling back into poverty, unable to recover.

The concept of the 'kill line' was introduced by a Bilibili blogger known as 'Lao A', who claims to work in forensics in the United States. He presents what seems to be a personal perspective, supported by a series of stark statistics, to highlight certain unreasonable aspects of American society, particularly in healthcare, housing, and welfare systems. He deliberately exaggerates and critiques these issues, gathering extreme case studies to create a highly provocative video series that disparages America. This series promotes brainwashing ideas such as 'America is actually very bad', 'capitalism exploits people', and 'the socialist system is superior', thereby attacking the American system.

Following the video's release, it ignited extensive discussions online. The CCP's state media actively engaged in shaping the narrative. For example, in Xi Jinping's former stronghold of Zhejiang Province, the provincial propaganda department stated on the public account 'Zhejiang Propaganda' that the kill line represents a long-standing social issue in the United States, reflecting contradictions like political polarisation, ineffective welfare, and social fragmentation. Cai Qi's propaganda apparatus seized the moment to amplify this narrative, and for a time, the party media appeared to be emulating North Korea. The 'little pinks' became collectively enthusiastic, indulging in gutter oil while singing the praises of Zhongnanhai, lamenting the plight of the American people living in dire conditions.

However, most netizens behind the Great Firewall exhibit an unusually clear perspective. Users commented: 'Since I can remember, the United States has been on the brink of collapse for over thirty years. So, has it collapsed yet?' 'How thick-skinned can one be? Not even oil drilling can penetrate! No one can compare.' '600 million people earn less than 142 dollars a month, and 900 million earn less than 284 dollars a month. The highest national minimum wage is 360 dollars.' '[Covering mouth and laughing][Covering mouth and laughing] What kind of line is the 175 yuan monthly pension for the old farmer in the East? The pig-killing line, hahahahahaha, Eastern small characteristics, hahahahahaha.' 'In the United States, an annual income of less than 140,000 dollars, which is under 980,000 yuan, implies that 95% of people in China live within the American slaughter line.' 'As for the Chinese slaughter line, discussing it will lead to being silenced.' 

Additionally, a Zhihu user referenced a WeChat article from the video blogger 'Lao A', questioning why, after living in the United States for so long, he rarely uses English terms in his videos. They noted that his topics are too broad, yet he struggles to maintain a core audience. The user pointed out that Lao A's claims of part-time work are filled with numerous obvious falsehoods. In all his content, there are almost no genuine professional medical terms or principle descriptions, and it often includes grand narratives about being physically abroad but mentally at home. The article concluded that Lao A's content consists of 5-10% factual information mixed with 90-95% exaggerated fictional storytelling.

Another article titled 'Regarding the American Story of the Explosive Fire of Lao A, I Have Some Different Views' analyses that Lao A's threefold identity as a Chinese international student, a medical school student in the United States, and a part-time worker collecting corpses is implausible. The reason is that international students make up only 0.6% of the total student population in American medical schools. Even if Lao A were fortunate enough to be admitted, the first two years of medical school involve an extremely heavy course load, making it nearly impossible for most medical students to work. More critically, the article points out that corpse transportation is almost never approved by schools or immigration authorities as a legitimate part-time job. In reality, corpse transportation in the United States is managed by funeral homes, hospitals, contracted companies, and professional transporters, rather than by casually picking up bodies off the street, nor is it a task just anyone can undertake.

According to netizens' analysis, Lao A's true identity is likely just a pawn serving the Chinese Communist Party's internal propaganda, merely a gunman in the CCP's public opinion war. With the Chinese economy in decline, youth unemployment rising, the middle class falling back into poverty, and social unrest, the regime is facing an extreme crisis. To divert attention and stabilise public sentiment, they have presented such a clumsy narrative.

Many netizens question, if America is so terrible, why do you prefer to be 'naked officials' and send your wives, children, and bank accounts to the United States? Are they all members of the Sima Nan Party? Isn't this handing a knife to America?

While inciting the pink wall to fervently support the party, they quietly leave the shore to express their patriotism. The 'American Kill Line' not only faced ridicule from netizens but also unexpectedly encountered a sudden critique from the cross-talk master Jiang Kun.

In recent days, a video has gone viral online featuring Jiang Kun, the former president of the China Quyi Artists Association and a renowned crosstalk performer, celebrating Christmas in a luxurious mansion in California alongside red artists. In the video, Jiang Kun takes centre stage, playing the accordion while a group of men and women sing 'My Country and I' together, sending Christmas greetings to their homeland.

The release of the video triggered a wave of mockery and criticism online. One person even penned a humorous poem: 'Though I wear foreign attire, my heart remains Chinese. Sipping red wine and feasting on chicken, my home is in Los Angeles. Earning money in the East and spending it in the West, I am a people's artist, and I have no regrets about coming to China, living in California.'

Netizens responded with sarcasm, stating: 'Teacher Jiang Kun perfectly exemplifies what it means to run wild in a free place while kneeling in a cage.' Chinese individuals express patriotism merely to gain a sense of belonging; celebrating holidays in America is a way to achieve a sense of superiority in reality. This is a form of resource integration, capitalising on patriotic sentiment while enjoying American freedoms, wanting to have the best of both worlds.' 'People strive for higher ground, while water flows to lower places! The homeland passes through the intestines, while the dollars stay for themselves!'

The actions of Jiang Kun and others serve as a prime example of 'pretending to love the country while being exquisitely self-serving.' At 75 years old, he was once a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the chairman of the Quyi Association, a typical 'artist within the system.' However, Jiang Kun and his wife Li Jingmin have long since immigrated to the United States, and their daughter Jiang Shan has obtained U.S. citizenship, allowing the entire family to enjoy the freedoms and welfare benefits of America. In his earlier years, he publicly criticised the commercialisation of Christmas, labelling it as 'vulgar.' Yet now, on Christmas Day, he finds himself gathered around a bonfire, playing the accordion, and singing revolutionary songs. This stands in stark contrast to the narrative pushed by the Chinese Communist Party about the American middle class being slaughtered, highlighting the irony of the situation!

In contrast to the domestic landscape, the so-called 'killing line' is pervasive and ever-present. After 40 years of family planning, you are effectively 'killed' by this grand national policy even before you are born, marking the family planning killing line. When attending school or seeking medical care, if you fail to offer bribes to teachers or doctors, you will not receive a good seat or bed, which represents the red envelope killing line. In the high school and college entrance examinations, a mere one-point difference can result in hundreds of thousands of candidates failing, illustrating the imperial examination killing line. In the workplace, the 35-year-old curse serves as another killing line. Social stratification indicates that excelling in science and mathematics is less advantageous than having a good father, which is the good father killing line. Amid economic decline, a single month's mortgage can devastate a seasoned middle-class individual, exemplifying the mortgage-killing line. The Chinese Communist Party has reinstated planned economy policies, where a single policy can obliterate an entire industry, thereby destroying the wealth accumulation of the national middle class, known as the red document killing line. During the Xi Jinping era, the suppression of free speech has reached alarming levels; a single sensitive term can ruin the future of an ordinary citizen, referred to as the sensitive word killing line. Additionally, there are killing lines related to pensions, medical insurance, nucleic acid testing during the pandemic, and vaccines; the killing lines in the Communist Party of China are as numerous as the hairs on a cow, countless and unquantifiable.

Currently, with Xi Jinping's military influence diminishing, his favoured minister Ma Xingrui's family has been completely dismantled, and his trusted aide Zhong Shaojun has been arrested. Within the party, government, and military systems, anyone associated with Xi's faction is in a precarious position, known as the pro-Xi killing line. Cai Qi likely realises that he may follow in the footsteps of Zhong and Ma, and has devised a so-called 'American killing line' to divert attention and alleviate anxiety. However, fate has its own plans, and it just so happens that an offshore patriotic party has been taken down offshore.

(First published by the People News) △