Today, a bit of dark humor from Washington's political circles.
There's a high-level closed-door conference called The Hill & Valley Forum—the name itself signals its weight. 'Hill' means Capitol Hill, 'Valley' means Silicon Valley. Since inception, the forum has pursued one mission: unite against China. It's a salon where Silicon Valley tech billionaires and Washington politicians build their anti-China alliance.
But at the latest gathering, the script flipped. What should have been a unified push to contain China became a grievance session about America's own failures. The star: Trae Stephens, co-founder of defense startup Anduril. This man built his profile hyping the China threat, then took the stage and turned his fire inward, tearing into America.
Immigration, Healthcare, Education: Forty Years in Congress, Nothing Accomplished?
Trae Stephens opened by listing America's legislative failures across a generation: Seventy to eighty percent of Americans back comprehensive immigration reform, yet Congress hasn't passed meaningful legislation in 40 years. On healthcare, his frustration sharpened: American spending doubles that of other democracies, yet delivers worse outcomes. Education hit harder still—American achievement has fallen out of the global top ten, trailing competitors sharply in math and science.
The audience in the room, hoping to hear strategies for crushing Chinese tech, must have left puzzled.
Trillion-Dollar Bill, Only Getting Subpar Charging Stations in Return?
As a staunch Trump supporter, Trae Stephens' criticism of infrastructure spending is particularly sharp. He complained that recent chip and green energy legislation allocated over a trillion dollars, resulting only in "a handful of subpar electric vehicle charging stations, without even a single fully completed chip wafer fab."
His most classic quip came next: " We haven't even sent a man to the moon in my lifetime." A devastating remark, essentially negating America's technological mobilization capacity over the past few decades. Whatever happened to "Make America Great Again"?
Legislators Have Only a "Hammer" in Hand, Seeing Everything as a "Nail"
Trae Stephens attributes all these problems to rigid legislative systems unable to keep pace with technological change. He cited examples: Facebook users surpassed 2 billion before the first platform regulation measures finally arrived; drones became weapons of war while domestic regulatory laws remained incomplete; cryptocurrency trading volumes reached trillions of dollars while the government still hadn't clarified its nature. In his view, American legislators facing technological revolution resort only to slow, procedural, and politically theatrical old tactics like "investigations" and " bully pulpit". " If all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." This remark is a brilliant satire of Washington's decision-making apparatus.
Silicon Valley's "Faux‑Innocent," Damaging National Security?
Trae Stephens was equally direct with his Silicon Valley peers. He criticized the Valley's long-standing reluctance to work with the Pentagon, viewing this so-called "moral neutrality" as damaging national security and actually "helping China become stronger, richer and more capable."
He then singled out Google employees' 2018 collective protest against the Defense Department's AI project—the "Maven Project"—calling it tantamount to aiding the enemy. The logic strains credulity: when your own people refuse to help the military, how does China end up holding the blame?
An anti-China conference becoming an "American problems diagnostic room"
Listening to the entire speech, absurdity hangs thick in the air. A forum ostensibly tasked with "containing China" saw its keynote speaker spend most of his time lamenting America's domestic failures, institutional dysfunction, and technological lag. The "China threat" he painted became instead a mirror reflecting America's own incompetence.
It's like a group of hunters gathering to discuss how to put down a ferocious tiger, only to have the lead hunter start wailing about his rusty rifle, expired ammunition, quarreling teammates, and an unreadable map. Finally he sighed "I doubt we'll bag that tiger in my lifetime." The other hunters exchange bewildered glances: what are we even doing here?
Trae Stephens' tirade, rather than serving as a warning about China's challenge, reads more like a "desperate diagnosis" of America's declining leadership. It inadvertently reveals a hard truth: when some American elites rack their brains trying to deal with China, they dejectedly discover that the greatest obstacle often comes not from the adversary, but from the rust and internal friction of their own system. What was meant to be a display of unity and resolve at this anti-China conference ultimately became an awkward "reflect session"—a rare spectacle in international politics.
America's "greatness", it seems, exists only in some rhetorics it uses to criticize others.
Beacon Institute
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
If cupping is the most visually striking element of the "Chinamaxxing" trend, the holistic wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers a much deeper appeal. Free from synthetic pharmaceuticals and aggressive interventions, TCM addresses modern health anxiety through the lens of holistic conditioning and body balance. From acupuncture and cupping to herbal wellness teas, these centuries-old practices—deeply familiar to Chinese households—are rapidly transforming into the hottest wellness lifestyle for global Gen Z. Since 2026, TCM-related topics have amassed over 4 billion cumulative views across international social media platforms.
"Did I Grow a Spleen?": When Western Logic Meets Eastern Healing
Comedian Zhang Cailing once shared a funny story on social media: her foreign father-in-law, Brian, suffered from chronic diarrhea back in Canada, but doctors could never find the cause. After he arrived in Beijing, the family took him to see a TCM practitioner. Upon taking his pulse, the doctor diagnosed him with "cold-dampness in the spleen and stomach." Bewildered, Brian asked in disbelief: "Did I grow a spleen?"
Brian’s reaction highlights the primary hurdle TCM faces in its global journey: conceptual divergence. In Western medicine, the spleen is viewed strictly as an isolated anatomical organ. In TCM theory, however, the "spleen" represents an integrated functional system governing digestion, metabolism, and immunity. Yet, when presented to young audiences worldwide, this vastly different approach to health has gained remarkably swift acceptance.
In March 2026, the Shennong Caotang Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guangzhou hosted over 80 international tourism delegates. Visitors engaged in hands-on intangible cultural heritage activities—crafting traditional Baoji water-paste pills, shaving cinnamon bark, and pounding herbs—before sampling seasonal wellness brews and Wanglaoji herbal tea. Many guests reflected that this immersive experience not only demystified TCM's rich heritage, but also demonstrated the unique power of its core philosophy: "preventive healthcare"—treating imbalances before illness takes hold.
International delegates experience hands-on traditional herb-crafting techniques in Guangzhou. (Source: Guangzhou Daily)
Flying In for Care: The Global Wave of TCM Medical Tourism
This momentum has birthed a new trend: TCM-centered medical tourism. Fueled by the widespread viral popularity of "China Travel" content across social platforms, traveling to hubs like Jiangsu and Shanghai for TCM therapies has quietly surged in popularity.
Nur Muhammad, a 79-year-old patient from Uzbekistan, flew directly to Nanjing accompanied by his grandson. At the Rehabilitation Center of Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, he underwent a comprehensive regimen featuring acupuncture, moxibustion, gua sha, cupping, and medicinal foot baths, while also learning traditional wellness exercises. His grandson, Nur Ali, shared his grandfather's impressions: "He truly experienced what TCM describes as 'the harmony of yin and yang.'"
79-year-old Uzbek patient Nur Muhammad receives acupuncture treatment in Jiangsu. (Source: China Jiangsu Net)
Similarly, at the International Medical Center of Shanghai Longhua Hospital, Australian travelers Bao-Tram Lam and Henry Lam added a TCM consultation to their China itinerary—crafting herbal sachets, exploring the history of Chinese materia medica, and experiencing a traditional diagnostic session. "Experiencing TCM firsthand is an incredible entry point into the culture," they remarked. Meanwhile, at the historic Fanghuichuntang pharmacy in Hangzhou, treatments like tuina massage, bone-setting, and acupuncture regularly draw international tourists, supported by bilingual QR-code audio guides.
Australian tourists add a hands-on TCM consultation to their China travel itinerary. (Source: Xinmin Evening News)
An African Student's "Acupuncture Dream": From Patient to Advocate
If foreign travelers demonstrate TCM's immediate cultural reach, international students embody its long-term global footprint.
Thomas, a student from Cameroon, arrived in Guangxi six years ago to pursue a degree in pharmaceutical engineering. After sustaining a severe knee injury during a soccer match, a senior student used a few acupuncture needles to relieve his acute pain. Initially skeptical—even suspecting the needles contained hidden medication—Thomas found his pain dramatically reduced after several sessions, sparking deep curiosity and trust.
That transformative experience inspired him to study TCM from scratch. Today, he is a second-year master's candidate in acupuncture and tuina at Henan University of Chinese Medicine. Carrying his needle kit wherever he goes, he shadows his mentor in clinical practice three days a week and creates social media videos to share his journey with family back home. "If I can help just one or two people back home feel the healing power of acupuncture, they will share it with others," Thomas says. "Time will prove everything."
Cameroonian student Thomas practices acupuncture, determined to bring TCM back to his home country. (Source: China News Service)
When a healing art proves its worth through real results, cultural boundaries naturally fade. The stories of these global practitioners and patients show that TCM’s primary appeal lies not in its label as an "ancient tradition," but in its proven ability to make people feel better and recover faster. This lifestyle wisdom—centered on holistic conditioning and the pursuit of balance—is steadily becoming a universal health language shared by young people around the globe.
