The Two Layers of Skin: Why China Says One Thing and Does Another

A rare, inside look at how China’s system trains officials to lie, hide intent, and maintain a public mask at all times.

This week’s MEMBER VAULT post is something special—an excerpt from my book Who Are China’s Walking Dead? A personal journey into the strange world of communist culture and officialdom.

(Image: Kay Rubacek interviewing a former CCP official who ran multiple slave-labor prison camps in northeast China. All images copyright Swoop Films, 2020.)

This chapter, “Two Layers of Skin”, is one of the most revealing sections in the book. It explains a concept I heard repeatedly from former CCP officials, judges, and propaganda workers:

the idea that every message in China has two layers—the outer layer you’re meant to see, and the inner layer you’re not allowed to know.

It’s the psychological operating system behind CCP propaganda.

It’s why Beijing’s statements always feel contradictory.

And it’s why China’s political culture produces a kind of inner split in its officials, a separation between what they say, what they believe, and what they’re allowed to admit.

If you want to understand how the CCP shapes reality—what it hides, how it communicates, and how it psychologically trains its officials—this is a foundational concept.

The book is available in paperback and eBook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository, and the audiobook is available on Amazon and Audible.

Here is the chapter: