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The Great Retreat: Beijing’s Digital Currency Ambitions Are Faltering

Authored by James Gorrie via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

For years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has positioned the digital yuan (e-CNY) as the ultimate weapon of financial totalitarianism. It was intended to be the crowning achievement of the surveillance state. With a programmable, traceable digital currency, Beijing thought it would finally break the back of private payment giants like Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Signage of the Chinese digital currency is seen near a coffee store in the New Actuation Fintech Center in Beijing on Feb. 17, 2022. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

Yet, despite having total control over the levers of the domestic economy, Beijing’s digital dream is showing signs of terminal fatigue.

Since its debut at the 2022 Winter Olympics, the e-CNY has gone from an aggressive, potential retail juggernaut to a low-public-appeal tool for state administration.

In short, nobody really wants it.

The Genesis of Control: Why the e-CNY was Born

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) didn’t launch the digital yuan to make life easier for the average citizen in Shanghai or Shenzhen. It was an aggressive move against the autonomy of the private sector and an offensive tactic to undermine individual privacy.

In 2014, when China’s research into the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) began, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) realized that the vast majority of retail transactions occurred on platforms it did not directly control. The authorities understand that any lack of control is a potential threat to the Party. Therefore, the goal of the digital yuan was “financial inclusion” (a euphemism for state monitoring and control of every cent spent), and the “internationalization of the yuan” to challenge the U.S. dollar.

But most importantly, it was about strengthening the CCP’s “Social Credit System.” A retail CBDC allows the state to freeze assets instantly if a citizen’s behavior deviates from Party orthodoxy.

The Adoption Decline: Why People Refuse to Swipe

Despite distributing millions of dollars in “red envelope” giveaways and forcing government employees in cities like Changshu to receive salaries in e-CNY, adoption has stalled. The reason is simple: there is no consumer benefit, only risk.

Alipay and WeChat Pay already provide a seamless user experience. Transitioning to a state-controlled wallet offers zero additional utility while stripping away the last vestiges of financial anonymity. In a culture where “saving face” and protecting one’s assets from the predatory state are paramount, it seems that the Chinese public has responded with a collective shrug.
A Chinese customer uses his mobile to pay via a QR code with the WeChat app at a local market in Beijing on Sept. 19, 2020. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

A Digital Yuan Reimagined?

Even though domestic digital yuan transaction volumes have made significant gains in terms of percentage of transaction usage, the total remains just a small fraction of the total money supply. In most instances, it’s used for low-value public transit or utility payments before being immediately converted back into traditional bank deposits.

To enhance its appeal as broadly as possible, as of Jan. 1 this year, the central bank is allowing commercial banks to pay interest on e-CNY wallets, making it a savings as well as a payment vehicle. This may be the PBOC’s effort to salvage the digital currency. But it also changes the nature of the original digital yuan as a CBDC, at least to some degree. However, current deposits in China earn a meager 0.05 percent.

Opinions vary on which criteria are optional, but most definitions hold that it’s a “digital form of central bank money.” That strict definition may make the new design make much of the e-CNY no longer a true CBDC.

A New Trade Currency?

Realizing that domestic retail adoption is not where it needs to be, Beijing is shifting its focus toward “Project mBridge”—a multi-CBDC platform designed for cross-border trade between BRICS nations. The strategy for the digital yuan has shifted from monitoring citizens’ grocery shopping habits to bypassing the SWIFT system for oil and gas trade.

Increasing international use is part of a broader strategy to maintain trade and financial relationships if U.S. financial sanctions cut it off from dollars. Trading partners are indeed using it, but not as much as Beijing would like or needs. Increasing the interest rate would certainly boost the e-CNY’s attractiveness internationally, but the current low interest rate isn’t much of an incentive to adopt it.

By focusing on a wholesale CBDC for international settlements, the CCP hopes to build a financial “Iron Curtain” that is immune to Western sanctions. This pivot is a tacit admission that the retail e-CNY has failed to become the “people’s money.”

Economic Decay and Internal Fractures

The failure and redesign of the e-CNY shouldn’t be viewed in a vacuum. The conditions and aspects of the digital yuan are still evolving because the original rollout didn’t succeed as much as the CCP had hoped. The digital yuan evolution is happening as the “China Miracle” enters its death throes.

There are too many negative economic factors to ignore. The property market, the main source of Chinese household wealth, continues to deteriorate. Youth unemployment remains at record highs, and the Belt and Road Initiative has turned into a massive debt-trap liability, with many partner nations unable to repay loans. Adopting a new currency that removes all privacy and personal autonomy in such economic conditions is poor timing, to say the least.

Political Division Within the CCP Is Another Factor

Political support within the CCP is shifting in intensity and among factions, and the Party is not the monolith it appears to be. Factional infighting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s “Security First” loyalists and the remnants of the technocratic wing has led to policy paralysis as other financial priorities demanded attention.

Resources that were once earmarked for the retail digital yuan are being diverted to shore up a failing banking system and to fund “theater” projects in the artificial intelligence sector meant to project a facade of technological parity with the West.

The Future: A Tool for Control, Not Commerce

Will the CCP cancel the e-CNY?

That’s not likely. Dictatorships rarely admit defeat. What’s more, it would be another mark against Xi’s authority that his opponents could use against him. In short, the digitalization of currency isn’t going away.

Instead, the digital yuan will likely be relegated to a specialized tool for state-to-state transactions, government disbursements, and auditing local officials. Plus, the digital yuan is ultimately about increasing control over the people and preserving the CCP’s rule over the country.

It’s here to stay, in one form or another.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/08/2026 – 23:25

Unlike CNN and MS NOW, Fox has given substantial coverage to the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicare fraud in California, where it is estimated that hundreds of billions of tax dollars have been stolen over the past several years due to lax oversight by the Democratic-controlled state.

On Sunday, Fox Report host Jon Scott devoted more than six minutes to the story, discussing it with San Francisco-based commentator Richie Greenberg. Scott began by relating:

Well, federal authorities have charged 15 people in a major crackdown in a major operation called Never Say Die targeting Medicare fraud at hospices in Southern California. The suspects allegedly bill Medicare about $60 million by recruiting healthy people to pretend they were terminally ill in exchange for monthly kickbacks.

After he noted the possibility of more arrests, there came a soundbite of U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli complaining that there was a lack of proper vetting by the state, and recalling the case of a couple with a criminal history who got a license to operate a hospice by using their daughter’s name.

Greenberg noted that California is completely controlled by Democrats who don’t seem to care about stopping such fraud:

California, San Francisco, other areas around this state — we have this happening all the time, but because you have Gavin Newsom, attorney general of California, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and a supermajority of Democrats and progressives in the legislature in Sacramento that just don’t seem to care — they don’t seem to want to rein in this kind of fraud — this is what happens.

Scott ended up showing a soundbite of Medicare administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz declaring that it is suspicious that about a third of the nation’s hospices are in California, suggesting that many are probably fraudulent.

Last week, several Fox shows covered the arrests that occurred in Los Angeles with veteran Fox reporter William La Jeunesse accompanying FBI agents. On the April 3 America Reports, he related:

You know, this kind of fraud happens in every state, right, but California is worse — the state handed out thousands of licenses to unqualified people despite these people often having the same address, the same owner using the same doctor. Those are red flags. Now, the state has provided no oversight, no regulation, and now federal taxpayers are paying the price.

He then noted one of those arrested who was alleged to have paid $300 kickbacks to people to pretend to be patients so that she could charge Medicare $6,000 per person. The Fox reporter summed up by recalling some of the red flags that these businesses were operating fraudulently:

Prosecutors charged a total of 23 suspects with defrauding taxpayers of about $50 million by running sham health care companies. A major red flag nationally, more than 85 percent of people who enter hospice die there, most in the first three weeks. By contrast, 97 percent of these patients who were enrolled never died.

Transcripts follow:

Fox News at Night

April 2, 2026

11:01 p.m. Eastern

ANITA VOGEL: It all went down early this morning here in Los Angeles, taking these alleged hospice fraudsters completely by surprise. Here is our William La Jeunesse who was along for the ride.

(…)

TRACE GALLAGHER: California has nine percent of the nation’s senior citizens — 31 percent of the nation’s hospice and home health care centers.

(…)

BILL ESSAYLI, FIRST ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY FOR CALIFORNIA: This is not just a fraud problem — this is a California problem. We want to be very frank about this. The federal government is the purse. All the money comes from the federal government, but it’s administered through the states. California is responsible for issuing hospice licenses — they’re responsible for regulating doctors and nurses — and the problem you see in California is that there is no vetting and there’s no checking.

(…)

America’s Newsroom

April 3, 2026

9:52 a.m.

ESSAYLI: This couple has a criminal record so they couldn’t get the license, so they just put it under their daughter’s name. But they continued to operate the hospice under their daughter’s name, and they billed Medicare for over $4 million, and no one did anything about it until we arrested them.

(…)

America Reports

April 3, 2026

2:54 p.m.

WILLIAM LA JEUNESSE: You know, this kind of fraud happens in every state, right, but California is worse — the state handed out thousands of licenses to unqualified people despite these people often having the same address, the same owner using the same doctor. Those are red flags. Now, the state has provided no oversight, no regulation, and now federal taxpayers are paying the price.

FBI SWAT kicked off this operation yesterday morning. Again, arresting the owners of two hospice providers in greater L.A. And this doctor and his wife — she’s a nurse — they enrolled hundreds of patients who did not qualify for hospice but billed the government as if they did. Now, the Gills pocketed about $30,000 per patient, billing Medicare for about $5 million they used to buy houses, cars and luxury travel.

Nearby, there was a second arrest of Lolita Minerd. She’s the owner of Topanga hospice. Prosecutors say she paid seniors a $300 kickback for every month they enrolled while she billed the feds for $6,000 for every month that that patient was there. Other patients she simply fabricated using the same address for each one, according to the complaint.

ESSAYLI: She billed Medicare for more than $9.1 million over a five-year period for the care of supposedly terminally ill patients.

LA JEUNESSE: Prosecutors charged a total of 23 suspects with defrauding taxpayers of about $50 million by running sham health care companies. A major red flag nationally, more than 85 percent of people who enter hospice die there, most in the first three weeks. By contrast, 97 percent of these patients who were enrolled never died.

(…)

Fox Report

April 5, 2026

4:18 p.m.

JON SCOTT: Well, federal authorities have charged 15 people in a major crackdown in a major operation called Never Say Die targeting Medicare fraud at hospices in Southern California. The suspects allegedly billed Medicare about $60 million by recruiting healthy people to pretend they were terminally ill in exchange for monthly kickbacks. Officials say more arrests could follow as the investigation continues.

ESSAYLI: It was going on for years, and all of these schemes kind of operate very similarly. They get a hospice license from the state of California. You cannot bill Medicare for hospice without being licensed by the state of California. Those licenses are issued with no checking, no vetting.

In fact, this couple has a criminal record, so they couldn’t get the license. So they just put it under their daughter’s name, but they continued to operate the hospice under their daughter’s name. And they billed Medicare for over $4 million, and nobody did anything about it until we arrested them last — yesterday morning.

(…)

RICHIE GREENBERG, SAN FRANCISCO POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: California, San Francisco, other areas around this state — we have this happening all the time, but because you have Gavin Newsom, attorney general of California, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and a supermajority of Democrats and progressives in the legislature in Sacramento that just don’t seem to care — they don’t seem to want to reign in this kind of fraud — this is what happens.

(…)

SCOTT: As U.S. Attorney Essayli said, you cannot — I mean, the governor is saying it’s Medicare’s fault — Essayli is saying the state is the one who is clearing these Medicare operators, licenses them, gives them an opportunity to bill the federal government, so somebody at the state level ought to be on the hook if they are not legitimate. Let’s listen to Dr. Mehmet Oz who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Listen.

Dr. MEHMET OZ, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES ADMINISTRATION: — 1,800 hospices in California. Is that the right number? Well, nationwide, we have just over 6,000 hospices, so why would almost one-third of all of the hospices in the whole country be in Los Angeles County.

Authorities in the Bahamas detained a 59-year-old American man in connection with last weekend’s disappearance of an American woman while out at sea.

Surveillance video captured a terrifying and apparent late-night random act of violence in Ohio, when a knife-wielding man allegedly told a homeowner he intended to kill him “in the name of Allah.”The harrowing encounter, which unfolded in the early hours of Easter Sunday morning in Warren County, began when the suspect appeared to be praying in the family’s driveway before approaching the home multiple times, prompting an alarmed father to eventually go outside.Authorities later identified the suspect as 23-year-old Anthony Long, who was arrested and charged shortly after the incident, FOX 19 Now reported. Tiffany Miller, the mother of the family, shared the frightening ordeal on social media Monday, describing it as a “deeply frightening and dangerous situation” that could have turned deadly. NEW FLORIDA LAW TARGETING ALLEGED ‘JIHAD’ PUT STATE ‘AHEAD OF THE CURVE,’ DESANTIS SAYSThe incident began when the suspect reportedly drove into the family’s driveway with his headlights off, Miller said. Surveillance footage from the home then appeared to show the man kneeling in the driveway and praying before approaching the home.Long first knocked on the front door, but received no response as the family was asleep, Miller said. Minutes later, he returned, pounding on the door even louder in a second, more aggressive attempt. Miller said the family woke up expecting their daughter to return home, but were shocked to find a stranger at their door in the middle of the night.  GOP SENATOR EARNS DEM BACKLASH FOR ‘ENEMY IS INSIDE THE GATES’ COMMENT ABOUT NYC MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI”I woke up and walked up thinking my daughter was locked out and, nope, it wasn’t her,” she said. “It was a man I didn’t know. We did not respond, and again he went back to his car.”The man reportedly remained in his parked car as one of the family’s daughters finally arrived home, prompting Miller’s husband to go outside and confront the suspect.”Hey bud, you knocking on the door?” the father, Andy, was heard asking. “I’ll kill you in the name of Allah,” the suspect immediately replied. The alarmed father then began retreating while shouting for their daughter to drive away.Miller said the suspect then pulled a knife on Andy, attempted to approach the home again, and ultimately drove off in pursuit of the daughter, who had already fled the scene.”The man immediately exited his vehicle, began making explicit threats to kill him, repeatedly invoking religious language, and started moving closer in an aggressive manner,” Miller said. No one was injured in the incident, according to the family.”This was a terrifying encounter, and we are grateful no one was harmed last night,” Miller said. Long was booked into the Warren County Jail, according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.Long faces four charges, including aggravated menacing, trespassing, and criminal damage, all classified as misdemeanors of varying degrees.He is also facing multiple bail amounts totaling more than $75,000, most of which must be paid in cash.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is demanding that the Transportation Security Administration reintroduce its controversial policy requiring travelers to take off their shoes before going through airport security checkpoints.Duckworth called on the TSA to immediately reverse its move to end the “shoes-off” policy, calling former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision last summer to scrap the policy a “reckless act” that may put travelers at risk.”Secretary Noem’s decision to implement a shoes on policy on July 8, 2025, likely without meaningful consultation with TSA, was a reckless act,” Duckworth wrote in a letter to Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill.”Allowing a potentially catastrophic security deficiency to remain in place for seven months and counting betrays TSA’s mission,” she added. “At a minimum, TSA’s failure to swiftly implement corrective action warrants the immediate withdrawal of Secretary Noem’s reckless and dangerous policy that increases the risk of a terrorist smuggling a dangerous item onto a flight.”NEARLY 20-YEAR SHOE-OFF AIRPORT SECURITY POLICE IS ENDED BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONThis comes after a classified watchdog report found that TSA scanners cannot effectively screen shoes, according to CBS News. Duckworth said the inspector general flagged the issue as urgent to Noem but that no action was taken.Duckworth said that the inspector general found that Noem’s policy shift had “inadvertently created a new security vulnerability in the system.”The former secretary’s failure to take corrective action after the report’s findings was “outrageous, unacceptable and dangerous to the flying public,” Duckworth said.The senator argues that TSA’s lack of response may violate federal law, writing that the agency missed a legally required 90-day deadline to outline corrective actions after receiving the watchdog’s report.”Such inaction violates Federal law, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance and DHS’s own directives,” Duckworth wrote.FLIGHT PASSENGERS SLAM AIRLINES FOR PUSHING EARLY BAG CHECKS EVEN WITH EMPTY BINS ON BOARDThe previous policy requiring passengers to take off their shoes during TSA screening was implemented in 2006.The senator wrote that Noem’s policy change reflected a “willingness to gamble the American people’s security,” calling it a “stunning failure of leadership.””We expect this change will drastically decrease passenger wait times at our TSA checkpoints, leading to a more pleasant and efficient passenger experience,” she said at the time. “As always, security remains our top priority. Thanks to our cutting-edge technological advancements and multi-layered security approach, we are confident we can implement this change while maintaining the highest security standards.”Duckworth accused Noem, who was removed by President Donald Trump last month and replaced by current DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, of prioritizing politics over security.The senator wrote that Noem’s policy change reflected a “willingness to gamble the American people’s security,” calling it a “stunning failure of leadership.””Secretary Noem’s willingness to gamble the American people’s security in an unsuccessful attempt to boost her popularity was, and remains, a stunning failure of leadership—particularly following President Trump’s decision to launch an unconstitutional war of choice against Iran that DHS has determined, “is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States,” she wrote.

Looking for help with today’s New York Times Wordle? Here are some expert hints, clues and commentary to help you solve today’s Wordle and sharpen your guessing game.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” sequel series “The Testaments” kicked off Wednesday on Hulu with a three-episode premiere and seven more on the way.