In November 2004 The Epoch Times published an editorial series called Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, which takes an unsparing look at the nature, history and crimes of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The series ends with a call for the rebirth of China: “Only without the Chinese Communist Party, will there be a new China. Only without the Chinese Communist Party, does China have hope. Without the Chinese Communist Party, the upright and kindhearted Chinese people will rebuild China’s historical magnificence.”
The first response to that call came on Dec. 3, 2004 in the form of a statement from someone quitting the CCP. In Chinese, to quit the Party is to “tuidang.” As of July 10, 98.3 million Chinese have submitted tuidang statements that renounce membership either of the CCP or its affiliated organizations, the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers.
The Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party has kept the records of this peaceful effort to dissolve the Party. The Epoch Times discussed with the Service Center’s executive director, Dr. Li Dayong, how these statements are collected.
Multiple Channels
Dr. Li says that a website affiliated with The Epoch Times is the main channel for someone to submit a tuidang statement.
For those who do not make use of the website, there are other means: submitting a statement in person at a service center (for those who are outside mainland China); sending a statement by fax; sending an email; calling the Service Center hotlines; posting the statements on telephone poles or bulletin boards; and writing the statements on yuan banknotes.
“There are about 100 Service Centers for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party in the world. They distribute a large number of ‘Nine Commentaries’ and help Chinese to quit the CCP on a daily basis,” Dr. Li said.
The Service Centers are staffed by volunteers. Mostly Falun Gong practitioners, but also others who support the tuidang movement, the volunteers tell people what the CCP is really like and help them renounce the Party.
This may happen almost anywhere or anytime. Inside China tuidang may happen through a conversation held on a city bus, or while standing in line, or at a work place or in someone’s home. Such conversations are not without risk—individuals found spreading the “Nine Commentaries” or encouraging people to tuidang risk severe reprisals.
Volunteers may assist people inside China to renounce the party by making phone calls or having chats in Internet chat rooms. Outside China, Chinese visiting popular tourist spots or Chinatowns are likely to find a Service Center table or kiosk set up to assist in tuidang.
“The number of volunteers in the world, including people in mainland China who help others quit the Party is hard to count,” Dr. Li said. “With the joint efforts of so many people, it is not surprising to have about 100 million people quitting the party and its affiliated organs in seven years.”
Service Center data analysts have used data sets of 10,000 statements at a time, to determine how many of those who tuidang were CCP members at one time. A conservative estimate is that 30 percent of the statements are from present or former CCP members.
Next...Responding to Objections
Responding to Objections
Sitting before his computer, Dr. Li said, “Look at all these statements scrolling across the screen: they have different tones, different ways of expressing ideas, different angles to express emotions; some are very touching. There is no way that these can be fabricated by just a few people. Such a large quantity of statements simply can’t be fabricated.”
Another objection involves the possibility that duplicate statements inflate the numbers.
“Each person who publishes the renunciation statement is assigned a unique number,” said Dr. Li. “We also define strict guidelines for the volunteers. Before helping someone to quit, the volunteer must ask first if the person has already quit.
“Afterwards, one must tell the person to remember the name used and the date when he or she quit. Also, the person must be reminded that there is no need to quit again,” Dr. Li said.
“Of course, there are some special cases. For example, someone who has quit the Party before would come back to quit the Youth League and the Young Pioneers League. Or the internet connection might be interrupted during the process, and so the person comes back to the website to repeat the process,” Dr. Li said.
“There are other situations when one might inadvertently quit twice. Theoretically, such things do exist. But considering the total number of renunciations, those rare cases can be ignored. In fact, there are many people who want to quit but don’t know how. I believe the recorded number is smaller than the real number of people who desire to quit.”
More and More Courageous
Dr. Li sees momentum for tuidang building in China.
“This year the people who quit the CCP display more courage than in previous years. It also is easier for them to accept the fact of tuidang,” Dr. Li said. “For instance, among the tourist groups from China, some people use their real name to quit. In South Korea, many times an entire busload of tourists have quit together.”
“Moreover, there are many uprisings in China. Sometimes, volunteers have made a phone call to one person in China that resulted in tens of people, or even over one hundred people, quitting together. Our volunteers say these groups sounded very happy. There was no fear,” Dr. Li said.
“This March, we organized a parade in New York celebrating 90 million people having renounced the CCP. One third of the people were not Falun Gong practitioners. The police officers noticed that they are not Falun Gong practitioners and asked what they were doing there. They answered that they were there to quit the CCP or to pick up the Tuidang certificate.”
Read the original Chinese article.
