The media hall monitors have feasted on CBS’s hardships while covering the Trump-Xi summit from Taiwan. However, this hasn’t deterred Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil from delivering banger after banger on commentary to close out the newscasts. Last night, Dokoupil mentioned all the things that China is dealing with that the other networks (chiefly ABC) conveniently omitted in order to better be able to glaze the ChiComs. Dokoupil made a compelling argument for American exceptionalism- the freedom to create, innovate and speak out. “The freedoms we have, they simply do not.” Tonight, Dokoupil went a step further and called communism out. Watch as he closes out the Evening News: ANOTHER BANGER: CBS's Tony Dokoupil closed out the Evening News with Taiwanese rejection of communism, and some important perspective from Jimmy Lai. "Whose ideas should lead the future?" TONY DOKOUPIL: We’re back live from Liberty Square, where the message we heard on the… pic.twitter.com/euMGRWc0Rn — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 15, 2026 TONY DOKOUPIL: We’re back live from Liberty Square, where the message we heard on the streets today was not against the people of China but against their government and against communism.  Do you want an independent Taiwan or a reunified Taiwan? TAIWANESE CITIZEN: 50/50. We want to unify, but we don't want to follow the communist system. DOKOUPIL: You want to be part of China but not part of communism. TAIWANESE CITIZEN: Yes, that's right. DOKOUPIL: Which is why the rivalry on display this week between China and the U.S. may feel familiar. Not so long ago, communism had failed in the old Soviet Union. While democracy, it seemed, had proven itself once and for all. But now here comes China. And as then-U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns said in 2024, “it's a new battle for the future.” A battle being fought by Jimmy Lai, a wealthy businessman and democracy activist in Hong Kong, now serving 20 years in prison for what China calls sedition. Before his sentence, he told our Holly Williams why the fight is worth it. HOLLY WILLIAMS: I mean, you have a wonderful city, prosperity. JIMMY LAI: That's what Chinese think. They think we just have a body, we don't have a soul. You guys just make money, have a good life, don't think about politics, don't think about freedom, don't think about human right, don’t think about of law, just eat. Enjoy life. WILLIAMS: Why is that not enough? LAI: Because we are human being. We have soul. We are not a dog. DOKOUPIL: And when you step back, that is the bigger picture this week, not just which superpower walks away with a mightier military or a larger economy, but whose ideas should lead the future? That's another day in America and the world. I'm Tony Dokoupil in Taipei, Taiwan. Good night.  Before I go on, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that the end-of-newscast commentary is the most evident proof of improvement at CBS News. One can only imagine what kind of self-important screeching we might’ve heard from John Dickerson during this summit. This segment is different from last night in that it features different perspectives. But they echo the same ideas from the night before: the desire to be free and to live one’s life while not under the boot of a totalitarian regime. This yearning is most poignantly expressed by Jimmy Lai, who is currently in prison for wanting Hong Kong to be free. Dokoupil closes by reminding us of the long-term stakes of the summit: whose ideas should lead the future?  The media hall monitors can continue to cope and seethe.