Gao Hongyi is a veteran of China army from the coastal city of Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong Province who has sought for over ten years to receive the benefits he earned through decades of employment. Finally giving up on the Chinese Communist Party treating him justly, he chose to make a public announcement of his withdrawal from it.
After retiring from the military, Gao worked at the vehicle service brigade of the Commerce Bureau since the late 1970s. However, China’s state-owned enterprises shifted toward profitability in late 1990s, resulting in massive layoffs and corporate restructuring. As a consequence, Gao was fired in 2001.
Gao filed a lawsuit against the work unit for his unfair treatment and for benefits he had earned, and he finally won the suit. But the court judgment was passed more than ten years ago, and has still not been carried out. Without his income and job-based benefits, he had no choice but to appeal. After he tried to petition the authorities in Beijing, he was repeatedly detained in black jails.
“The CCP does not give me money for food, but has spent a great deal of stability maintenance expenses on me,” Gao said. “A vehicle always follows me wherever I go, and two or three persons in each shift are tailing me.”
Quitting the CCP
In an interview with the Epoch Times, Gao recounted his experiences of quitting the CCP.
“Three generations in my family have served for the CCP. Joining the army at age 18, I devoted my youth and strength to it. But in return, I have been forcibly deprived of the means of my livelihood. Now I am suffering from privation and homelessness. The CCP has been extremely unfair to me,” said Gao.
Gao asked to quit the Party three times but his requests were rejected by the Party organizations on both the branch and city level. “No, you cannot take the initiative in withdrawing from the Party, and you should be expelled from the Party only,” responded the Party branch secretary.
As Gao’s petition was in vain, he approached Western media for an interview expressing his wish to withdraw from the CCP in an attempt to draw public attention to his plight.
“On March 6, 2012, I arranged with a U.S. reporter to meet in Beijing to publicly renounce my CCP membership. But the phone conversations were tapped and later I was detained for 20 days. I clearly know the reason for the detention was because I had contacted the foreign reporter to announce my withdrawal from the Party,” said Gao.
On Feb. 16, 2013, Gao made contact with Sound of Hope Radio Network, a U.S.-based nonprofit radio news provider, openly announcing his quitting from the CCP using his real name.
When asked if he would be persecuted and retaliated against for his announcement, Gao replied that he no longer cared whether he lives or dies.
Translated by John Wang and Euly Luo. Written in English by Christine Ford.
Read the original Chinese article.
