I. The Communist Party’s United Front Work – How
Mephistopheles Tempts Mankind
A. The CCP’s “Magic Weapon”
Man’s understanding of right and wrong, of good and
evil, and of the existence of an afterlife directly affects his
participation in the human world. In the Free World, man can decide
what to believe based on input readily available to him. While all
major governments interact with other governments openly and
respectfully, the Chinese communist regime deploys techniques that
may be either legitimate or covert, but often lack virtue.
Three interrelated factors, however, make the
Communist government’s approach unique. “First is the nature of the
Chinese state” which Chinascope has explored in depth. {1} The
“second is its holistic approach which melds together the legal and
the covert, persuasion, inducement, enticement, and coercion; third
is the aim of such operations which is not just to direct behavior
but to condition behavior. In other words, China does not just want
you to comply with its wishes. Far more fundamentally, it wants you
to think in such a way that you will of your own volition do what it
wants without being told.” {2}
On June 27, 2018, the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) reported on how China’s own laws affect
how businesses and individuals must interact overseas, “First,
China’s cyber security preferences are impacted by its own National
Intelligence Laws. These national laws require that: ‘All
organizations and citizens shall, in accordance with the law,
support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence
work, and guard the secrecy of national intelligence work they are
aware of. The state will protect individuals and organizations that
support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence
work.’” {3}
The work that Chinese individuals and businesses do
overseas to support China is called United Front Work. It is one of
the three magic weapons that Mao Zedong called for in winning the
civil war in 1949. The United Front Work Department directs such
work. According to the Jamestown Foundation, “The United Front Work
Department (中共中央统一战线工作部) is the department of the CCP charged with
consolidating support for Party policies among non-CCP members,
including among individuals of Chinese descent overseas. It has long
been a key, albeit well concealed, element of the CCP’s foreign
policy.” {4}
In other words, the CCP assumes that the primary
loyalty of Chinese overseas is to participate in democratic
elections, be candidates, donors, and voters in order to advance
China’s national interests abroad and to take the initiative to do
so wholeheartedly and of their own free will. They should help
achieve the political objectives of the “China Dream of National
Rejuvenation” in relation to the South China Sea, Taiwan, and the
Belt and Road Initiative. Such interference goes beyond electoral
politics; it includes donations in return for favors such as, for
example, gaining the appointment of someone who is pro-Beijing.
Plausible deniability is assured because such acts are considered
state secrets, the betrayal of which is an offence punishable by
lengthy jail sentences or possibly execution in China. {5}
The United Front Work is so important to the
communist party that Beijing even offers a Master’s Degree in United
Front studies. {6}
B. Methods the CCP Uses
Many of the methods the CCP uses are detailed in a
report that Macrobusiness recently published. Following are some of
the more salient methodologies.
-
Mobilization
of the ethnic Chinese diaspora
-
Tasking of
ethnic Chinese students in foreign countries to suppress
anti-Beijing views
-
Sponsorship of
pro-regime “educational” institutions in universities to foster
pro-Chinese worldviews
-
Substantial
financial and other assistance to key individuals and
institutions that are prepared to support China’s interests
-
Leveraging
trade and investment dependencies to coerce partners
-
Recruitment of
business leaders who have strong economic interests in China
-
Seek to apply
Chinese law within the United States and other countries
-
Penetration of
Western research and other institutions to access cutting-edge
technologies
-
Espionage
operations against Western and partner countries
-
Geo-strategic
maneuvers to extend Beijing’s influence over new areas
-
Extensive use
of para-military and military forces to persuade, intimidate,
and confront foreign forces in selected areas and forcibly to
seize, occupy, and militarize strategically important locations.
{7}
Louisa Lim an award-winning journalist who has
reported from China for a decade and Dr. Gerry Groot of the
University of Adelaide, who specializes in the United Front Work
Department (UFWD), provide further information in “Inside China’s
secretive United Front” {8}
“United Front Work is the responsibility of every
Chinese Communist Party member and especially every Chinese
Communist Party member who has an official position,” says Groot.
“They are supposed to make friends and influence those friends to
take on the official positions of the Communist Party.
“This charm offensive is achieved by a variety of
methods, including cooperation, cooption, coercion and by making the
price of collaboration irresistible, thus slowly absorbing the
party’s enemies into its ranks. When it comes to entrepreneurs, the
carrots dangled include sought-after positions in government
advisory bodies like the Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Congress (CPPCC), which imply insider access, if not actual power.
The success of this strategy can be seen from a single statistic:
the CPPCC now contains 59 US dollar billionaires, whose combined net
worth is double the GDP of Ireland.
“In recent years, United Front Work has turned its
focus outward, harnessing Chinese living overseas – particularly
businessmen, community leaders and students – to project communist
party influence abroad. One tried-and-tested formula is the use of
community associations, either setting up new bodies or usurping
existing ones to serve party ends.” {9}
How can they be used?
Regardless of the number of these CCP-supporting
members or organizations, it can be a propaganda tool to be quoted
in the language of the country’s media or in Chinese, creating the
impression of support from the organization or the Chinese in that
country, bolstering Party legitimacy.
It can press for policy changes regarding China
through submissions to committees or by lobbying. Since it is a
community association, it can deny any connection to China.
It can be the base from which the CCP extends its
tentacles to other targeted individuals, groups, or organizations.
For Beijing’s own government organization or a United
Front body, it often uses a popular sounding name to disguise its
true nature. According to Gerry Groot, in Australia, “Lots of
foreigners in particular think they’re dealing with a
government-related entity or a civil society entity, when they’re
dealing with a very complex entity which is controlled, directed,
administered, and surveyed constantly by the Communist Party United
Front Work Department.” {10}
Asia Dialogue also
reports on the methods of the UFWD: “Liberal democracies are
increasingly aware of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) efforts to exert
influence internationally, but what does this mean in practice? …
The CCP exerts an astonishing amount of control over the lives of
those born and raised in China. In the wake of unprecedented
economic development it is now facing the challenge of large-scale
migration of increasingly affluent Chinese citizens, who through
overseas study or work have acquired a home away from home. Of the
many ways in which the Party has adapted, the growing strength of
the United Front Work Department is of particular interest to those
measuring CCP influence abroad. …” {11}
II. Chinafornia
The CCP’s United Front Work mobilizes the Chinese
diaspora as well as businesses, government officials, and private
organizations around the world. From Taiwan to Australia, from
Africa to Europe, from Canada to South America and from San
Francisco to New York, it extends its tentacles both visibly and
behind the scenes. We will focus on Chinafornia as an example of the
methods used to infiltrate and transform the Free World.
According to the 2010 census, the Chinese American
population in the United States numbered approximately 3.8 million.
The states with the largest estimated Chinese
American populations were California (1,253,100; 3.4 percent and New
York (577,000; 3.0 percent).
San Francisco, California has the highest per capita
concentration of Chinese Americans of any major city in the United
States, at an estimated 21.4 percent, or 172,181 people, and
contains the second-largest total number of Chinese Americans of any
U.S. city. New York City has the largest number of Chinese Americans
at 486,463, but only 6 percent of the total population.
The 2016 Community Survey of the U.S. Census
estimates a population of Chinese Americans of one or more races to
be 5,081,682. Americans of Chinese descent, including those with
partial Chinese ancestry constitute 1.5 percent of the total U.S.
population as of 2017.
Of the ten cities with the largest Chinese American
populations, five are in California. {12}
It would be natural for Chinese Americans to want to
develop their political influence and have a say in the future of
their city, their state, and their country, but with China’s United
Front “magic weapon” at work, things are not that simple.
The CCP Politburo member and former Minister of
Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi made a speech this year, calling for the
government to expand and strengthen “overseas Chinese patriotic
friendly forces” in the service of the great rejuvenation of the
Chinese nation and “ensure they identify their interests with
China’s interest.” {13}
The further requirement that “All organizations and
citizens shall, in accordance with the law, support, cooperate with,
and collaborate in national intelligence work, and guard the secrecy
of national intelligence work they are aware of” adds an ineluctable
imperative to support the CCP. {14}
Let us look at how the CCP has bloomed in its
relationship with California, achieved greater cooperation, and
established good connections with officials and politicians in
California via its magic weapon, the UFWD.
A. Increasing Connections with California Officials
The Disobedient
Media reported
that several officials in California seemed to have close ties to
Beijing. {15}
“As China’s economy has grown over the past several
decades, so too have donations and support for political figures in
California.” Ed Mah Lee, a member of the Democratic Party, was San
Francisco’s 43rd mayor and has “a history of financial support from
Chinese interests, as well as the open endorsement of public figures
in the city with established ties to the Communist Party of China (CCP).
… Lee also enjoyed long-time support from the recently-deceased San
Francisco figure Rose Pak. Pak served as an executive director of
the China Overseas Exchange Association, a foreign affairs group
under the direction of China’s state Council Overseas Chinese
Affairs Office. … San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly directly
accused Pak of improperly acting as an agent of the Chinese
government. … On September 28, 2016, a video posted to Twitter by
China Daily (0:20-0:24) shows Lee placing his right hand over his
heart during China’s national anthem.
“Lee is not the only Bay Area politician with a
connection to China. Disobedient Media has reported that the mayors
of Oakland and Berkeley have ties to groups and individuals who have
been the subject of FBI investigations for their ties to the CCP.”
“The Los
Angeles Business Journal has
highlighted a dramatic increase of Chinese investment in the film
industry as well as LA real estate. China is Los Angeles’ largest
trading partner, with $164.38 billion in trade to the city in 2013.
This increase in investment is welcomed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who
has endeavored to court Chinese businesses since his election in
2013. In 2014 and 2016, Garcetti led trade delegations from the
United States to China. … Garcetti also met with Wang Jianlin,
chairman of Dalian Wanda Group. Disobedient Media has previously
reported on Jianlin’s drive to buy up Hollywood media groups …”
“China has also begun to exert increasing influence
over Californian Chinese organized crime groups, using Hong Kong
based Triads who are allied with Beijing’s government. … On February
27th, 2006, Chinese American Allen Leung was murdered by a masked
assailant in San Francisco.” Leung was the head of an organization
that was “traditionally supportive of Taiwan’s Kuomintang
government.”
California’s pivot towards China is concerning given
the increasing amounts from Chinese financial involvement with
California politicians. Similarly, the shift in Californian Chinese
organized crime from groups aligned with Taiwan to Triad
organizations operating with the blessing of the Chinese government
creates doubts about Beijing’s plans for the West Coast. With
California increasingly taking steps to act autonomously of the
Federal government, it is likely that China’s true intentions will
become apparent in due time. {16}
On April 9, 2013, “Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. met
with China’s Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and signed a landmark
agreement with the Ministry of Commerce to bolster economic ties and
cooperation between California and China. ‘While California seems
relatively small compared to the vastness of China, the innovation,
the creativity of Silicon Valley, our medical advances, the internet
and various other technologies make California, I believe, a very
valued partner for China,’ said Governor Brown. They signed a
Memorandum of Understanding. … The agreement, the first-of-its-kind
between a subnational entity and the Ministry of Commerce,
establishes a joint working group that includes California, the
Ministry of Commerce and leaders from six provinces.”
As the United States learned later, the MOU, which is
detailed in the article, did indeed make California “a very valued
partner for China.” {17}
On May 3, 2018, Xinhua
News Agency,
China’s official press, reported: “U.S. Governor of California Jerry
Brown called for more cooperation with China on Thursday, saying
that the two countries have great potential as trade partners. … The
governor said that China and the United States should work together
to promote the global economy despite rising tensions due to the
trade dispute between the two countries recently. … “‘A trade war is
stupid,’ (Brown) added.” {18}
B. Possible Targets of United Front Work
An example of China’s United Front Work’s enticement
was recently reported on August 8, 2018, in an article in the
Federalist titled, “Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Ties To China Go Way
Deeper Than An Alleged Office Spy: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s warm
relationship with and advocacy for Communist China go back decades
and involve millions, if not billions of dollars.”
Some key points from this article are cited below
{19}:
-
“Chinese
intelligence once recruited a staff member at a California
office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and the source reported
back to China about local politics.”
-
“Feinstein …
employed this individual for almost 20 years in a close
capacity, while he represented the senator in interactions with
Chinese officials.”
-
Shortly after
the U.S. opened U.S.-Chinese diplomatic relations in 1979.
“Feinstein led a mayoral delegation to China joined by her
husband, investor Richard Blum, a trip they took together many
times over the ensuing years as the relationship between both
Feinsteins and China grew.”
-
“In 1986,
Feinstein and Jiang (Zemin, General Secretary of the Communist
Party of China from 1989 to 2002) designated several corporate
entities for fostering commercial relations, one named Shanghai
Pacific Partners. Feinstein’s husband served as a director. …
Subsequently Blum’s investments in the Middle Kingdom
mushroomed.”
-
“In May 1993,
Feinstein expressed her strong support on the Senate floor for
continued trading with China. Contemporaneously, her husband was
seeking to raise up to $150 million from investors, including
himself, for a variety of Chinese enterprises.”
-
“In May 1996,
she penned an editorial in the Los Angeles Times calling for the
United States to grant most-favored-nation trading status to
China ‘on a permanent basis.’”
-
“In May 2000,
Feinstein lobbied for making permanent normal trading relations
with China, a measure that ultimately passed, and helped pave
the way for its entrance into the World Trade Organization,
which Feinstein also supported.”
-
“Feinstein’s
economic positions frequently downplayed the PRC’s rampant human
rights violations. The senator … often urging appeasement of the
Chinese regime in both apologism for such abuses and urging
restraint.”
-
“Feinstein
also argued against tying China’s most-favored-nation trading
status to human rights improvements.”
-
“Feinstein
also challenged the Obama administration’s $6.4 billion arms
sale to Taiwan, calling it a ‘substantial irritant’ to
U.S.-China relations.”
The article went on to suggest that Feinstein’s
dealings with China should be investigated.
Daniel Turner, Executive Director of Power The
Future, asked: “Is it not worthy of the media’s time to question who
drafts her policy statement: staffers concerned for her constituents
in California or Beijing?”
He also raised questions about Feinstein’s husband’s
business: “One could be suspicious of the $25 billion deal the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation struck with the senator’s
husband’s real estate company during the housing crash of 2009. It
raises an eyebrow that as chair of the Military Appropriations
Subcommittee, Feinstein approved millions in contracts benefiting
her husband’s firm. One may question how Blum acquired a lucrative
$108 million contract to sell post offices in California.” {20}
According to Politico,
Rose Pak, who died in September 2016, and who was mentioned
previously, is another person of interest. For decades she was “one
of San Francisco’s preeminent political power brokers. Though she
never held elective office, she was famous for making and unmaking
mayors, city councilmen (or ‘supervisors,’ as they’re known in San
Francisco), and pushing city contracts to her allies and
constituents in Chinatown.” “According to four former intelligence
officials, there were widespread concerns that Pak had been coopted
by Chinese intelligence, and was wielding influence over San
Francisco politics in ways purposefully beneficial to the Chinese
Government. Another worry, U.S. officials said, was Pak’s role in
organizing numerous junkets to China, sometimes led by Pak in person
and attended (often multiple times) by many prominent Bay area
politicians including former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who died
while in office in 2017.” {21}
A show of power by the CCP was the 2008 Olympic Torch
Run in San Francisco. The torch relay around the world met protests
for the CCP’s suppression of democracy and human rights “San
Francisco was the only U.S. city to host the Olympic torch as it
made its way, tortuously, to Beijing. … Most brazenly, said former
intelligence agents, Chinese officials bussed in 6,000-8,000 J-Visa
holding students – threatening them with the loss of Chinese
government funding – from across California to disrupt Falun Gong,
Tibetan, Uighur and pro-democracy protesters. … ‘I’m not sure they
would have pulled out these stops in any other city, but San
Francisco is special’ to China, said a former senior U.S. official.”
{22}
Let us look in depth at some events in the current
decade to see how the CCP has been using its power to turn
California into Chinafornia.
C. The Year 2000 – The City of Santee
In the year 2000, current California Assemblyman
Randy Voepel was elected Mayor of the City of Santee and sworn in on
December 5, 2000. Santee was asked to issue a proclamation on behalf
of Falun Gong and Voepel agreed to the request. The CCP heard about
it. On December 27, Lan Lijun, the Consul General of the People’s
Republic of China wrote a letter to Voepel to discuss “a matter
which is of great importance and grave concern to the Chinese
Government and its relations with the United States.”
The letter went on to describe the “illegal”
activities of Falun Gong: “advocating superstition and spreading
fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances,
and jeopardizing social stability, thus being deemed an illegal cult
organization.” “Many … appeared to be disorganized: some became
paranoid,” “suffering from hallucinations,” “jumped into rivers or
off buildings,” “even cruelly injured or killed their relatives and
friends.” “I am sending you some materials which I hope will help
you know more about this Falun Gong cult organization.”
As opposed to believing Lan Lijun, Mayor Voepel wrote
a two-page letter in reply: “Your letter personally chilled me to my
bones. I was shocked that a Communist Nation would go to this amount
of trouble to suppress what is routinely accepted in this country.
What you consider to be of great threat to the People’s Republic of
China is a political ‘walk in the park’ in the United States. I …
must be honest in my concern for the suppression of human rights by
your government as evidenced by your request. … P.S. I will have a
favorable Mayor’s proclamation for the Falun Gong out as soon as
possible.” {23}
Shortly thereafter, Doug Curley of KUSI-TV news
reported, tongue in cheek, about the city of Santee getting ready to
defend itself from an attack by the People’s Liberation Army. {24}
D. 2016- The Chinese Chamber of Commerce Says “No” to
Divine Land Marching Band
On April 17, 2016 The Divine Land Marching Band,
which consists of a number of Falun Gong practitioners, was to
participate in the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Grand
Parade (MCCBFGP), sponsored by Sakura Matsuri, Inc.
On the day of the parade, when everyone was lined up
and ready to start the parade, Mr. Richard Hashimoto, the President
of the event sponsor, picked up a megaphone and yelled at the band
through the megaphone, saying the band was not allowed to
participate in the parade.
“Mr. Hashimoto admitted to one of the members of the
marching band that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce told him that
Falun Gong is a ‘troublemaker’ and that is why his organization
refused to allow Falun Gong to participate in the events that led to
the case mentioned below.” {25}
On April 11, 2017, a band member filed a case with
the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (SFHRC), alleging
discrimination: Case Name: Rui Wang v. Sakura Matsuri Inc. (Docket
Number: FY17-12C-030).
Chinascope sent
a letter of inquiry to the SFHRC asking about the status of the
case. As of the date of this publication, October 16, 2018, more
than one and one-half years later, the SFHRC has not responded to
the band members or to Chinascope.
E. June 10, 2017 – Report: Communists OK’ed to Work
for the California Government
Andrea Seastrand, a former Republican member of the
United States House of Representatives, wrote an article about
California Assembly Bill 22, which allowed communists to work in the
state government. According to her article, Assembly Bill 22
“actually received enough votes from Democratic legislators to pass.
It shows how out of touch and liberal California’s Legislature has
become.” Disobedient Media also reported on the legislation: “In May
2017, a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Rob Bonta sought to remove a
Cold War era ban on state employees who were members of the
Communist Party.” {26}
By that time Randy Voepel was an Assemblyman. He had
served two tours in Vietnam with the Navy during the war. Seastrand
quoted him in her article.
“There are 1.9 million veterans in California, many
of us fought the communists,” said Voepel, “They are still a threat.
We have North Korea that wants to do us in. We have China who is a
great, great threat to the United States. They are communist
regimes. In China the Falun Gong have been rounded up and put in
prisons. There are giant labor camps where there is organ
harvesting. There are bullets that are charged off to the families
of those executed. You get a bill for 20 yuan to pay for the bullet
that killed one of your family members. We have great communist
threats in the world.
“And I’m not speaking from bitterness because I’m a
Vietnam veteran. I came to peace with that years ago. In fact,
Vietnam’s a pretty neat place. But just last week we had many
Vietnamese people here who were kicked out of their country. They
came here for the freedom. So, Assembly members, I ask for a no vote
on this issue. The whole concept of opening up communism and
Communist Party members to working for the state of California is
against everything we stand for on this floor.”
Assemblyman Travis Allen, from Huntington Beach, also
objected:
“You take a look at the number of people that
communism has killed in the 20th century alone, it’s over 90
million. Communism stands for everything that the United States
stands against. We’re for freedom, we are for justice, we’re for
democracy, we are for the rule of law. And communism is none of
these things. To allow subversives and avowed communists to now work
for the state of California is a direct insult to the people of
California who paid for that government.”
Seastrand reported that, after receiving complaints,
Assemblyman Rob Bonta, who introduced the bill, withdrew it. Her
final comment in the article was, “It was a wrong idea. Thankfully,
the bill is dead. We can only hope and pray that someday we can say
the same about communism.” {27}
F. June 17, 2017 – The Dalai Lama Delivered a
Commencement Address at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
As a well-known China reporter John Pomphret wrote,
“(O)ut of the almost 1 million foreign students attending U.S.
universities this fall (2017), almost one in three will be Chinese.
This marks a fivefold increase over the 2004–2005 academic year,
when there were 62,523 Chinese students stateside.” At first
Academics were imbued with the same viewpoint that inspired the
contents of James Mann’s well-known book, the China Fantasy. A true
win-win relationship would develop. According to one quote, “it
would guarantee America’s ‘intellectual and spiritual domination of
{China’s} leaders.” Over time, however, American schools became
enamored with Chinese cash. September enrollment at the University
of Illinois broke 3,000 {for example}. It is now known as the
University of China at Illinois. As an aside, reports indicate that
President Trump’s aids, “led by anti-immigration crusader Stephen
Miller are reportedly pushing for a blanket ban,” although there is
no indication of how seriously the president took the advice. Many
schools across the country rely heavily on money from China.
Pomphret pointed out that this wave of Chinese
applicants across the country triggered a “tsunami of fraud,” since
agents are paid a bounty for each student they bring in. “The
result? In this year’s entering class, there will be thousands of
Chinese students who lack the education, the language ability, and
the critical facilities necessary to benefit from an American
education. That’s because many of them were given a slot at a U.S.
university almost solely based on their parents’ ability to pay.”
“These students end up hanging out with their compatriots, never
making an American friend, and returning home with no appreciation
of American civil society, its freedoms of association, speech, and
religion, or its democracy. In fact, many I have spoken with can be
openly hostile to Western values.” {28}
In addition, the Communist government itself closely
scrutinizes the behavior of Chinese students wherever they are in
the world. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association’s (CSSA’s)
political work “runs directly counter to the ideals of a Western
education and represents a worrying trend of China attempting to
export its system of thought control onto America’s shores. Chinese
not prepared for an American education naturally gravitate toward
the CSSA. ‘It offers us a place to go when we’re homesick.’ ‘That
makes it easier for them to ‘wash our brains.’” {29}
Party cells have even been set up as part of a
strategy “to extend direct party control globally and to insulate
students and scholars abroad from the influence of ‘harmful
ideology,’ sometimes by asking members to report on each other’s
behaviors and beliefs.” “‘You still know that if you actively
protest against [the party], of if you make some kinds of comments,
you know that they could harm you later on.’ … ‘It’s a way of
controlling what you are willing to do.’” {30}
In 2007, in a specific demonstration of power, when a
CSSA organization at Columbia protested against a human rights
speaker, a threatening email was sent to the Columbia group’s
website, stating, “Anyone who offends China will be executed no
matter how far away they are,” {31}
How did this affect the Dalai Lama’s invitation to
speak at UCSD where 14 percent of the students are from China?
UCSD announced on February 2, 2017, that the Dalai
Lama would appear at the UCSD commencement ceremony, following a
public address delivered on campus on Friday, June 16 to an
estimated audience of 25,000.
Even though these Chinese students came to the U.S.
to study and had access to information that was no longer censored
as it was in China, they still spent much of their time reading the
Chinese social media that the CCP actually controls. In their views,
the Dalai Lama was not someone who promotes peace and world harmony;
rather, he was someone who wants to split China and was part of
China’s feudal past, as the CCP had long been telling them.
While these students lacked the capacity to
appreciate the values of the free world, they did not hesitate to
use the freedom of expression that the U.S. Constitution affords to
express and promulgate the communist party’s viewpoint.
Just hours after the announcement, the CSSA at UCSD
announced that it had communicated with the Chinese Consulate about
it. The students announced on WeChat in Chinese: “Currently, the
various actions undertaken by the university have contravened the
spirit of respect, tolerance, equality, and earnestness – the ethos
upon which the university is built. These actions have also dampened
the academic enthusiasm of Chinese students and scholars. If the
university insists on acting unilaterally and inviting the Dalai
Lama to give a speech at the graduation ceremony, our association
vows to take further measures to firmly resist the university’s
unreasonable behavior.” {32}
UCSD’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association said
in a statement after the invitation to the Dalai Lama was announced,
“The Dalai Lama is not only a religious personality but also a
political exile who has long been carrying out actions to divide the
motherland and to destroy national unity.” {33}
Apparently in the minds of those students, respect
means the Free World should show a deep consideration for communism
rather than vice versa.
The University defended the values of the Free World
and didn’t yield under the pressure. The Dalai Lama still spoke at
UCSD.
On September 12, 2018, Inside
Higher Education discussed
a report that “describes alleged retaliation against the University
of California, San Diego, after it invited the Dalai Lama to give a
commencement speech in 2017. The report cites unnamed faculty
members who say they heard from their colleagues at Chinese partner
institutions that universities were ordered by a government entity –
believed to be the Ministry of Education – not to collaborate with
UCSD. Among other alleged retaliatory actions, a faculty member told
Lloyd-Damnjanovic that the ministry blocked funding of a joint
research center operated by the University of California’s 10
campuses and Fudan University. UCSD’s media relations office did not
comment on the report.” {34}
A September article in the UCSD student
newspaper, The
Triton, announced,
“China will no longer fund travel for visiting scholars at UC San
Diego, according to a memo apparently written by government
officials that circulated among Chinese academics. The move,
according to UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy Professor
Victor Shih, is likely in retaliation against UCSD for inviting the
Dalai Lama to serve as the 2016–17 commencement speaker last
spring.”
“China took such an action in 2010, eight months
after the University of Calgary conferred an honorary degree upon
the Dalai Lama. The university was removed from China’s list of
accredited universities, throwing many Chinese alumni and students’
post-graduation plans and financial stability into jeopardy. The
Canadian institution regained its accreditation in April 2011.”
“‘The Chinese Communist Party has always used
political, economic, and diplomatic means to threaten free society,’
says Frank Tian Xie, a professor of business at the University of
South Carolina Aiken, told The
Triton in
an interview conducted in Chinese. ‘This decision proved that all
its academic exchange programs and scholarships are a facade serving
a political purpose. If these programs are for academic purposes,
they shouldn’t be influenced by politics.’” {35}
Students have actively espoused communist values in
other areas as well. At Durham University in the U.K., Chinese
students notified the local embassy about the appearance of
Chinese-Canadian human rights activist Anastasia Lin, who was Miss
Canada and is also a Falun Gong practitioner. The local Chinese
embassy requested she be disinvited.
In Australia, an article found that “there have been
cases of Chinese students reporting back to the Chinese Embassy on
fellow students that have not followed Beijing rhetoric.” {36}
In another instance, CSSA students tore down posters
about the Tiananmen Square massacre. A directive that the Ministry
of Education had handed down in January emphasized the importance of
“patriotic education” in ensuring that all university students –
even those studying overseas – “always follow the party.” {37}
G. July 2017 – Chinatown Business Improvement
District (BID) Executive Director Used His Authority to Make Sure
U.S. Citizens Could Not Exercise their First Amendment Rights at a
National Park
Nick Janicki applied for a permit with the California
State Parks Department for a 501C3, the Foundation for Traditional
Culture, to perform a benefit concert at the Los Angeles State
Historic Park in Chinatown in Los Angeles. Larry Fulmer, of Special
Events for the CA State Park, Los Angeles Sector, informed him on
January 17, 2017, that the date of July 29, 2017, was “locked in.”
Sean Woods, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Sector
of California State Parks, informed Mr. Jenicki that “a meeting with
the Chinatown BID is a mandatory step in our special event
permitting process.” At the State Park’s request, Janicki met with
George Yu, president of the Chinatown BID.
Janicki agreed to a number of Yu’s requests. He took
down the following videos from the organization’s website, including
those on Tibetan freedom, slave labor, and environmental
destruction. When Yu told him emphatically that if Falun Gong had
any presence at the event, then “our conversation was over and we
needed to take the event elsewhere,” he drew the line.
Yu also requested that artists performing at the
event refrain from saying anything that could be construed as
negative towards the Chinese or China.
On May 16, 2017, George Yu sent Janicki a letter
saying, “Please be advised that the Chinatown BID is unable to
support the Festival.”
As the result, the Park District pulled the permit.
According Janicki, “It’s very concerning that the Chinese BID can be
given authority over what United States citizens can or can’t do and
what First Amendment Rights they can exercise in a public place in a
National Park.” {38}
H. 2008 – The First Time, a California Resolution on
Human Rights Failed
In 2008, San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly
sponsored a resolution that contained language condemning the
Chinese government’s willful campaign to oppress the people of
Tibet.
“‘We’ve been bullied. We’ve been butchered. I am 82
years old. Please help us!’ The old woman wept bitterly and begged
for mercy for the people of her homeland. She is a Tibetan-American
who had come to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with 200
others to support a simple resolution calling for mercy for the
people of Tibet.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had appointed Carmen
Chu as Supervisor of District 4. In that capacity Chu, refused to
support the resolution and District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd went
along with her. Daly’s resolution contained language condemning the
Chinese government’s willful campaign to oppress the people of
Tibet. “Around a hundred people spoke and only 3 of them opposed
Daly’s resolution. They were all men from the Chinese Consul. … they
called the peaceful Buddhist Tibetans ‘animals.’” The 2008
resolution failed. {39}
I. July 2017 – For the Second Time, a California
Resolution on Human Rights Shelved after Communist Party Opposition
(SJR10)
Courthouse News Service has
detailed coverage of the issue where the California State Senate
decided to shelve a bill criticizing China’s human rights
violations, because of the pressure from the Chinese Consulate. {40}
Because its contents are so relevant, we quote the main parts of the
article here:
“In July, state Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Santee,
introduced a resolution calling on President Donald Trump and
Congress to investigate the suspected human rights abuses by the
Chinese government against members of the religious group Falun
Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. The measure moved swiftly through
the Senate Judiciary Committee with a unanimous vote.
“Lawmakers then whittled down the initial resolution
– five pages of forceful rhetoric against the actions of China – to
a single, factual page. But just before the resolution was to be
read on the floor, Senate Pro Tem Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles,
moved the measure to the Senate Rules Committee without a vote or
discussion and then shelved it.
“De Leon’s decision may have been due to an unsigned
letter sent by China’s consulate general in San Francisco, calling
Falun Gong an ‘evil cult.’ The letter was received the day before De
Leon moved the bill. Neither De Leon’s office nor the Chinese
consulate returned requests for comment.
“‘These are not people that are strapping bombs on
themselves and blowing themselves up trying to kill others,’
Anderson said. ‘These are people who are focused on meditation
through their faith. They have a harmless faith.’
“In 2007, Anderson got a resolution passed
recognizing Falun Gong and the liberty of the United States to allow
freedom of religious expression. The Chinese consulate sent him a
letter accusing him of being a terrorist, and banned him from
traveling to China.
“Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that utilizes
qigong, measured movements and a focus on breathing and meditation
to promote health and wellness. Falun Gong differs from traditional
qigong in that there is no membership fee, no specified ritual and a
greater emphasis on morality.
“Congress passed a resolution in 2016 with bipartisan
support and drastically more forceful language than Anderson’s
recently shelved effort. Minnesota lawmakers passed their own
version this week.
“‘Here in California, we talk about California
values,’ Anderson said. ‘If we can’t stand up for those who simply
want to meditate and become better people, if we can’t step up for
religious liberty and freedom, not just here but around the world,
we have failed those values.’
“Disturbing reports of torture and forced harvesting
of organs have led many nations to ban citizens from traveling to
China for medical procedures. China denies that any Falun Gong
practitioners have been killed and says those who have died did so
because they refused to take medicine or accept medical aid.
“The United Nations and the World Health Organization
both disagree and have condemned the actions of the Chinese
government.
“A report authored by former Canadian Secretary of
State David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas found that
‘the source of 41,500 transplants for the six-year period 2000 to
2005 is unexplained’ and concluded that ‘the government of China and
its agencies in numerous parts of the country, in particular
hospitals but also detention centers and ‘people’s courts,’ since
1999 have put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong
prisoners of conscience.’ {41}
“Wait times for organ transplants in China average
about two weeks compared to 32 weeks in Canada, despite its smaller
voluntary organ donor list.
“‘I think the question has to be asked why does China
have such a grip on your throat that they can bully California
Democrat leadership that says that they are for the downtrodden,
those being picked on around the world, but when it comes to these
people they aren’t willing to stand up against their slaughter,’
Anderson said.
“‘We are going to challenge them to see if they want
to harvest our organs,’ Anderson said. ‘I am not standing down.
There will be no peace until there is justice.’”
Ending
In Faust,
Mephistopheles does not win. Faust remains loyal to the Lord,
without a single moment of hesitation, despite the temptations that
Mephistopheles offers him.
Today, the battle for man’s soul is taking place in a
different form. As we can see from the events described herein
Mephistopheles and the communist party have been doing very well.
Things have not gone so well for the Free World or for mankind as a
whole.
The communist party has used many of the means
described herein to destroy our values and has successfully lured
people to succumb to its values. People seem to have forgotten the
meaning of the following words, but they warranted man’s thoughts
when written and they warrant our introspection today: (KJ version)
Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?”
California is changing into Chinafornia. Can it
become California again?
We close with a letter that reminds us who we once
were.
Dr. Shizhong Chen, the President of the Conscience
Foundation wrote to California State Assemblyman Randy Voepel on
September 12, 2017:
Dear Honorable Assemblyman Voepel,
My name is Shizhong Chen and I am a Falun Gong
practitioner. I am writing to you to share with you how righteous
officials like you may protect their constituents in ways that we
may not be aware of.
In 2001 I appeared and spoke at the Santee City
Council. Perhaps my statement is still in the city’s record, but I
quote it here for your convenience:
“Dear Mayor Voepel and Honorable Council members:
I come to thank you for your proclamation for Falun
Gong, a proclamation made in spite of the Chinese government’s
pressure; but more importantly, I come to celebrate the American
spirit.
In 1839, the ship ‘Amistad’ carried itself fatefully
to the United States and touched off a historical legal battle that
went up to the Supreme Court. Risking their contemporary national
interest, i.e. the alliance with mighty Spain, Americans chose to
defend a few strangers. It was this part of the American history
that led me to embrace the true spirit of this nation. I began to
understand Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the Civil War: A noble
war fought for a principle and for those who could not fend for
themselves. I also came to the enlightenment that it was the defense
of the principles on which America was founded that justified
America’s own long endurance. After the improper victories of naval
battles of the US vs. Spain and vs. Japan, the great American
admirals all wondered: ‘Are we good or are we lucky?’ I always say
with tears in my eyes: ‘Neither. You are blessed!!’
That is how I take the American spirit to my heart;
and in doing so, I have wondered: What if ‘Amistad’ sailed from
China today? Would America today stand for its principle or its
pocket? Today I know safely that the same spirit and the same
justice are intact at least in the city of Santee.
Yet, this is not just a Chinese issue. I have taught
Falun Gong exercises to over one hundred San Diegans, most of whom
are Americans. It may seem most inconceivable that over 200 hundred
years after our founding fathers had declared certain inalienable
rights, that our rights can come under the threat of a foreign
government, yet that threat has come. By standing for your own
citizens, you have fulfilled the promise of ‘government of the
people, by the people, for the people.’ I admire and congratulate
you.”
In response to my statement, you stated: “Your
statement tells us why we must do this, as Dr. Martin Luther King
once said, ‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our
enemies but the silence of our friends.’”
Two years later the Cedar Fire broke out. While
evacuating to the safety of my Falun Gong friends’ house, we watched
attentively the expansion of the wildfire. By the time the fire
began to threaten Santee, we heard from the news that firefighting
resources had been so stretched after almost a week of wildfires
that there were no firefighters or emergency personnel present in
the area. On top of that, the power was also out. Then past midnight
we heard from the news that the fire had forked in two directions,
one to the west, one to the south; it somehow went around Santee. At
that moment, we looked at each other said: “Santee should thank its
mayor!”
In introducing SJR-10 you have once again stood up
for the righteousness. This time I believe California will have you
and Senator Anderson to thank for the results.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Shizhong Chen
|