US ‘kill line’ shocks Chinese social media as economic woes shatter illusions

A series of social media posts highlighting the economic insecurity facing ordinary Americans has triggered an intense debate in China about social problems in the United States and shattered some long-held perceptions.
Many of the posts from influencers described the vulnerabilities as a “kill line”, a term used by Chinese video gamers to describe the health threshold below which a character can be instantly defeated.
The term has now been repurposed to describe a financial and social tipping…