Queens Democratic Party executive secretary Mike Reich told the Daily News that the he lamented the idea that three Queens Council Members will be running for the position. “I don’t know why he would do this; the more people there are from Queens in the running, the less likely it is that someone from Queens will win,” he said.
Liu will be going into direct competition for the position with Queens Council Members Melinda Katz and David Weprin.
In light of Liu’s seeming spontaneous decision, Katz said in a statement that New Yorkers “deserve a Comptroller who respects and champions this position for the importance that it holds, not someone who views it as a second choice.”
Liu’s announcement was made during a March 8 press conference on the steps of City Hall. Protests against his decision began the same day, yet the protesters were kicked out of the event by police just moments after opening a banner (See the YouTube video entitled, “John Liu protest stopped at City Hall.”)
The incident outlined further their reasons for protest.
Some of them still stood outside the City Hall fence, holding a banner which read, “John Liu Does Not Represent the Interest of the People of the USA.”
Liu is the District 20 Council Member representing northeast Queens, including Flushing and Kissena Park. As a Taiwanese immigrant, Liu is also the first Chinese American to be elected to the New York City Council.
Despite his background, he lacks the support of many of his Chinese constituents.
“I will make my presence seen whenever he holds a promotion activity to protest and tell the American community that we, as Chinese, do not support him,” said Guo Wei Zhang, president of the Alumni Association of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China Military School in New York.
“I’ve never seen John Liu fighting for the rights and benefits of the Taiwanese people,” he said. “Anytime there are activities for the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] he’s so eager to join them, especially with those pro-communist groups. He’s never shown this kind of eagerness among the Taiwanese community.”
Zhang stated that he is “dissatisfied” with Liu’s performance over the summer when members of the Chinese meditation practice Falun Gong were being physically attacked in his district . Liu not only refused to condemn the attacks or offer support to the victims, but also held meetings with the attackers.
“This is not the attitude of a City Council Member,” said Zhang.
Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a Chinese meditation practice based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The Chinese regime launched a persecution against the practice in 1999 after a state-run poll found between 70 and 100 million people were practicing. Practitioners of Falun Gong face torture, imprisonment, and death in China.
Since the persecution began, more than 3,000 people are confirmed to have been killed by the communist regime for their belief in Falun Gong and there are more than 83,000 accounts of torture, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center, faluninfo.net .
Following Liu’s behavior amid the incident, community members formed a committee to remove him from his council member position.
Liu Guo Hua, president of the Committee to Remove Councilmember John Liu and State Assemblywoman Ellen Young from Office expressed that he was surprised Liu would run for city comptroller.
“The removal committee last year revealed a lot of John Liu’s scandals. [Since then] John Liu has been very low profile like a tortoise hiding in its shell. During that time he didn’t seem like he’d come out to ask for votes. It looked like he only wants to maintain a safe distance from the political sphere,” said Hua.
“Now all of a sudden he’s made this $3 million campaign fund and is going full blast.”
Hua said his biggest concern is that Liu often supports the activities of the CCP in New York, such as his issuing a proclamation for the regime’s Shenzhou 5 test and his support at CCP flag raisings held by the local Chinese consulate.
“Those who side with the communists are like going onto a rubber boat [a Chinese saying referring to not being able to back out of something once you start.] He’s not qualified to run for comptroller,” Hua said.
