Many people from all walks from life attended the 11th “Flushing Forum” in Flushing, New York on the afternoon on November 22. The forum provided an outlet for people to discuss the worldwide phenomenon called the “Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party” and the massive wave of Chinese people quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations during the past four years. By talking about the incidents her family and she personally experienced, Ms. Zhao Liping, a resident of Flushing and a volunteer of the CCP Quitting Service Center, explained why she denounced the CCP with her real name as well as how she has helped over 2,000 additional people inside and outside China quit the CCP.
The following is an excerpt of Ms. Zhao’s speech.
A Veteran Red Army Soldier Who Lives in Fear
The “Nine Commentaries” has ushered in a massive wave of people quitting the CCP. After reading the “Nine Commentaries” not only did I withdraw from the CCP, but I also became a volunteer at the CCP Quitting Service Center. I would like to share with you my personal experience and what my family members have experienced regarding the atrocities perpetrated by the Chinese communist regime. What I want to say is that it is imperative to quit the CCP and become a dignified Chinese person.
Since the “Nine Commentaries” was first published by The Epoch Times in 2004, about 46 million Chinese people have quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Because such a huge number of Chinese people have quit the CCP, it clearly shows that the Chinese people are fully aware that the CCP is doomed to collapse. Many Chinese now believe that quitting the CCP will not only ensure their safety, but it will also safeguard their lives. After reading the “Nine Commentaries” I realized the answer to a question that had long been on my mind. The question was why my father, who used to be a red army soldier, always told me to “keep silent or be killed.” My mother, who was an Eighth Route Army soldier, always sang a song to me when I was little. Perhaps because I have heard this song repeatedly since I was a baby, I am able to recite some of the lines, such as “the communist gangs kills people as if mowing grass.”
When I was a child, my father often told me that after going into battle only a very few soldiers would come back alive. Some of the soldiers were volunteers, while others were forced to enter the army in their teens or early twenties. Some of the senior officers who were close to my father and who he considered to be his friends were convicted of anti-revolution behavior and killed on the spot just because of one casual sentence. Such occurrences were common during that period of time. When I asked my father for the reasons, he immediately held me in his arms and asked me to keep quiet.
Whenever I complained to my family about the Chinese communist regime and the CCP or its policies, my father was always very nervous and would remind me that it was a crime subject to the death penalty. Although he did know that the CCP is an evil and violent party that has killed millions of innocent people, he was afraid to say anything about it. He has witnessed so many such cases. Regardless of how much they may have contributed to the benefit of the party, countless innocent people have been killed by the CCP. Once someone said something that was considered to be anti-revolution and/or anti-party, they would end up in jail or be executed.
My Mother was Forced to Abandon Her Family
My mother ran away from her parent’s home and joined the Eighth Route Army when she was only thirteen years old. She had been born into a rich family and had received an education when she was a child. Three months after the Chinese Communist regime was established in 1949, they started to implement land reform and eliminate the landlord class. My mother was classified as a landlord during that period of time because of her family background. Most Chinese people nowadays may not be familiar with this term, but the elderly Chinese are very sensitive to it. The so-called wealthy landlord classification referred to anyone that held even a small amount of land or property. All of her family’s land was taken in one night. Because my mother was a member of the regime forces, she was forced to give up all relationships that she had with her family who were classified as landlords.
My mother often sang a song to me in my childhood. The words of the song said that the CCP kills countless people as if mowing grass. She said that when she was a child, Eighth Route Red Army soldiers often came to her home. Kids and adults alike were so scared that they would hide in the underground cellar. The Red Army soldiers would ask for money or valuable articles from door to door when they came into a village. If refused, they would ransack the homes and take whatever they liked. Local residents who were not cooperative would be killed on the spot. They were no different from bandits. They would set fire to buildings, kill people at will, rob and plunder valuables. Their purpose was to eliminate the landlords and break-up families. At that time, I had innocently asked my mother why we were being told that the Eight Route Army was the “people’s army.” This so-called people’s army” had caused so much terror among the people. My mother could not answer my questions. She just stared at me and said that I should never talk about such matters outside our home.
Even Children were Discriminated
This case reminded me of another incident that had impacted my family. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, my parents entrusted my aunt, who had been born into an impoverished family, to help take care of me. My aunt usually took her granddaughters along with me to school. After being together for a long period of time, inevitably there were some conflicts among us. At one time, my aunt’s granddaughter angrily scolded my mother to tears, referring to her as a vicious landlord simply because my mother had criticized the child’s behavior. Back then, what I was most afraid of was to have someone refer to us as landlords. You would be greatly insulted and discriminated in the school and neighborhood if you were born into a so-called “dishonored” family. Landlords were discriminated against by the entire village.
Through the incidents my family and I have experienced, I think the CCP is indeed nothing but a group of gangsters that has regarded the Chinese people as fools. This is the way that the CCP has always treated the Chinese people.
