NEW YORK—An incongruous sight greeted passersby outside Lincoln Center on Sept. 15. A Chinese-American man wearing a tall, pointy, red hat waved an American flag in one hand and held a banner covered in red Chinese characters in the other. But the message was serious.
“China Today: an American Chinese mistakenly believed the communist officials, investing in China, assets looted, passport snatched and severely beaten by the public security officers, deported, and all efforts down the drain,” the banner read.
Michael Hull, a former Chase Manhattan banker, was protesting a Chinese Communist Party-sponsored show taking place inside Alice Tully Hall.
The show, “Eternal Melody, Eternal Love,” was part of the 2012 China Today Arts Week, held by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
The China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) is a semi-official organization with all funding and leadership controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CFLAC is the arm of the CCP that controls the entire arts domain in China.
The performance at Lincoln Center on Saturday was launched by CFLAC, calling it the “China Today” program. It was a mix of a number of performing arts, including dance, instruments, solos, acrobatics, etc. On the surface, the programs are introducing Chinese culture. But the last piece, a male solo called, “Why Is the Flower So Red,” is a communist red song from a 1963 movie. It is one of the songs ousted Party chief Bo Xilai used in Chongqing during his red song campaign.
Hull was vexed at the title of the performance, “Eternal Melody, Eternal Love.”
“I don’t think China [the CCP] has any love,” he said. “There is no love. It will only delude those who want to know the Chinese culture. Today, China is a country without human rights.”
Hull protested for about two hours on Saturday—the second time he has protested against performances at Lincoln Center this year.
“The CCP is promoting culture here, while simultaneously harvesting organs from people alive and looting others’ money. It has no right to engage in culture,” Hull said. “If you are a country of culture, how can you do those things?! The (CCP) culture is robbery, lawlessness, and violence … . How can a murderer or a robber talk about culture?”
Hull started a joint venture company in China in 1996—attracted by the CCP’s methods of bringing investors in. Today, American Trade Group, a construction company which once had $10 million invested in it, is worth less than $60. Officials of the Chinese Communist Party stripped the company of its assets and there has been no recourse for Hull.
“I didn’t know the CCP’s history at that time. Had I known it, I would not have fallen to the situation I’m in.” he said, “Now watching it ... instilling culture to other countries, I want the Chinese people to know the tragedy of the overseas Chinese. The Chinese people should know: If you believe in the CCP, you will be made to suffer to death by it.”
The last time Hull went back to China, in 2010, he was stalked by secret police, illegally detained, and deported.
“I am the first Chinese in the U.S. who was beaten when I appealed legally [in China]. Police in Shanghai canceled my Chinese visa and seized my Home Return Permit. I have no way out. I can’t enter China to appeal and recover my misappropriated investment.”
Hull said he was determined to protest against the performance at Lincoln Center and planned to continue to protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Sept. 18.
Read the original Chinese article.
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