The kill line is a dangerous place to be. Illustration: Mountain PeopleIn the past few months, Chinese media have been flooded with discussion of the so-called “kill line” in US society. The social media posts, news articles, podcasts and blogs describe a vision of the US as a dystopian capitalist hell. Promoting the supposed “kill line” in the US could be one helpful distraction. Commentators who have tried to draw a more explicit link between the kill line meme and China’s domestic problems have been swiftly censored.

Source: Taipei Times March 17, 2026 17:39 UTC