WASHINGTION—In the Rayburn Building U.S. House of Representatives at a press conference on July 30, representatives of several China pro-democracy and freedom non-governmental organizations condemned the violent attack on Baiqiao Tang, a China pro-democracy activist. Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) sent his senior Legislative Assistant Autumn Morley to represent him at the press conference.
The purpose of the press conference was to awaken the public and alert law enforcement in the U.S.—Justice Department, F.B.I., the Congress, Homeland Security—to illegal activities being allegedly conducted by the People’s Republic of China within the shores of the United States, and that the violence towards free expression common in China is being transplanted to America.
The attack on Mr. Tang took place on July 6 in Flushing, New York, which is a Chinatown in the Queens section of New York City. The attack on Mr. Tang is under investigation by law enforcement and the F.B.I. and the perpetrators have not been identified or caught, according to Tang.
“I never expected one day I would be attacked in America, began Mr. Tang at the press conference. “I knew the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] was very bad, evil, but I didn’t expect an attack [in America].”
Tang was at the Hollywood Karaoke Bar, according to the China Support Network, and said he anticipated something was going to happen, and so he said he did not drink alcoholic beverages, only water at the restaurant. He called 911 even before the assault began and then twice afterward. He said at least three men, perhaps several more, started punching him, injuring his nose, and eye, and hand. Mr. Tang’s left hand was still in a cast at the news event.
Baiqiao Tang was a student at the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and was imprisoned for a couple of years for his participation. He was exiled to the United States where he obtained political asylum. Tang has strongly denounced the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and early on, has been an ardent supporter of the “Tuidang” movement of renouncing one’s association with the Communist Party and its affiliated organizations, and distributing the editorial series, the Nine Commentaries, which were published by The Epoch Times in 2004.
“I resist [CCP violence], not only for myself, but for all the dissidents, Falun Gong practitioners…, all the people of this country to be free, everyone has freedom of speech, [and should be able to] express their views,” said Tang.
Several of the leaders of the China pro-democracy movement who spoke at the hearing linked the attack on Tang with his close association with Falun Gong and the “Tuidang” movement (renouncing the CCP), which was initiated by Falun Gong practitioners.
The hateful environment in Flushing, New York was evident the year before, said Dr. Wenyi Wang, supervisor of Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party. “On May 17 [2008], Falun Gong practitioners were in front of the library in Flushing [for collecting names to quit the CCP], when suddenly several hundred people, a mob, showed up. They were waving red flags, yelling at the Falun Gong practitioners, and later physical attacks resulted. At least 22 were arrested from that incident,” Dr. Wang said.
