[Selected Opinion Articles] When People Lose Freedom and Faith

(Minghui.org) The Tiananmen Square Massacre carried out by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1989 robbed people of their faith in China’s future and their freedom to speak their minds. Many Chinese, especially intellectuals, stopped trying to bring about social change and turned to protecting their own interests, such as making more money and living a better life. Ten years later, the CCP started targeting Falun Gong practitioners for their faith in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The persecution of Falun Gong, in turn, has further eroded the moral foundations of our society.

As a Falun Gong practitioner, I’ve run into many democracy advocates—especially those who participated in the 1989 student democracy movement—as I worked to raise awareness of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. They said they were simply too naïve when they joined the democracy movement. Their dreams for democracy and freedom were shattered, and they faced serious retaliation from the CCP afterward: some were expelled from school, some ended up in less desirable jobs, and some continued to suffer repercussions in the years that followed.

Thinking that challenging the status quo was hopeless, many of these intellectuals quit their jobs and became business owners who only cared about making money. When I gave them Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a book published in 2004, to read, some of them realized how the CCP had been systematically destroying Chinese society and they readily agreed to quit the CCP and its youth organizations.

Too Few People Have a Conscience

Because I refused to give up my faith in Falun Gong, I was jailed in 2015. The guards played videos about Chinese society to brainwash us: They showed people who’d been framed and had money extorted from them for helping others, someone who was injured rescuing people from drowning but none of the survivors thanked him. “Look at the society—do you [practitioners] still want to be good people and help others?” asked a guard.

In a society where people are detained and tortured for being good, all kinds of chaotic things are possible. The guard could be right that society today is almost hopeless, which, however, makes it even more important to reflect on the impact of Falun Gong and its practitioners. In a world where money is valued over virtue, problems will arise. A Christian friend told me money could be seen as mammon, which can lure and deceive people, making them unable to follow their conscience.

One example is the healthcare industry. Known as an “angel in white,” a doctor is a well-respected professional. But hospitals nowadays are more interested in maximizing profits than saving lives. My friend Hai can attest to this.

Hai’s younger brother had a stomachache and went to a local hospital. Their cousin was the president of the hospital. Initially they didn’t tell the cousin about the visit because they didn’t think it was a major health problem. But Hai’s brother was examined and tested and then told he had late-stage stomach cancer. Hai’s family was in panic and his elderly mother almost died of the shock.

In despair, Hai decided to tell his cousin what was going on. His cousin made a phone call, and everything changed. A new attending physician was assigned to the case, and now it appeared that Hai’s brother only had a benign tumor, which was easily removed with minimally invasive surgery. Hai’s brother has fully recovered and is very healthy now.

Having been through this, Hai still has lingering fear over what could have had happened. “Because the hospital wants to squeeze more money from patients, the first doctor almost destroyed my family,” he said. “Fortunately I have connections; otherwise, I cannot imagine how people survive when they get sick.”

Society was not like this before the CCP took power in 1949. There was an elderly Chinese medicine doctor in my local area who often treated poor people for free. When a rich person and a poor person needed help at the same time, he always treated the poor one first. “Wealthy people often see doctors even with minor problems, while poor people usually come only when things are bad and they cannot wait any longer,” he explained. “That is why treating the poor is more important because I am saving lives.”

Rejecting the CCP

When the CCP suppresses innocent people like Falun Gong practitioners and destroys traditional values, everyone becomes a victim.

My friend Jian is another example. He grew up in the countryside and went to another province to attend a very good college. He graduated a few weeks after the Tiananmen Massacre. He was offered a position at his college and his girlfriend really wanted him to take it. But his mother said no and insisted that he return to their home province to find a job.

Jian found a job in the provincial capital. He liked the job and its potential. But his mother once again wanted him to be even closer to her. She was just too worried about the political repercussions of the student movement and didn’t want her son to be in a big city. Finally Jian ended up in the county seat where he came from. Several years later, his employer went bankrupt, and Jian started his own business. Over the next 10 or so years, however, he had many challenges, including renting a facility, obtaining permits, passing inspections, and many more. His business did not do well.

When Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published in 2004, I gave him a copy. After he read it, he sighed, “I didn’t realize until now that the CCP is so vicious and hopeless. We’d better separate ourselves from the regime to avoid bad omens.”

Shortly after quitting the CCP, Jian’s business improved and become profitable. “Rejecting the CCP is important for all of us,” he said. “By severing ties with the regime, we can break the spell of the CCP and have a better future.”