As Beijing Celebrated Xi, China's Other Reality Emerged

Jun 22, 2026 - 09:44

On Xi Jinping's 73rd birthday, Beijing unveiled yet another ideological doctrine: Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building. State media celebrated Xi's leadership, senior CCP officials pledged loyalty, and a new chapter in the Party's personality cult appeared to be unfolding. But beyond the political theater, a very different China was emerging. In Sichuan, Christians were arrested during a church raid. In Wuhan, residents protested a controversial laboratory project and faced police action, censorship, and arrests. Tonight, we examine the growing gap between the Party-state's vision of China and the realities facing ordinary citizens—and why Xi's birthday may have revealed more than Beijing intended.