(Minghui.org) In the eyes of many Chinese people, there are currently two versions of China depending upon one’s focus: one is a country still ravaged by the pandemic, if you focus attention on the overrun hospitals and crematories; the other is a country that has emerged from the pandemic and returned to normal, if you look at the crowded streets and tourist attractions. 

The latter is what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to present to the Chinese people and the rest of the world by allowing the former to occur. In other words, the communist regime aimed to have as many people infected as quickly as possible so as to achieve herd immunity, thus enabling the country to resume normal activities. Right now, there are close to one billion Chinese people infected. Even if 10 million people were to die, the death rate would be only 1%, which the CCP and even many Chinese people would consider relatively low. As such, there would be no major shock to society. 

While many Western media reports have focused on China’s hospitals and crematories, they would probably have a second thought when they turned their attention to the bustling streets, stores, or tourist attractions. They may think that the infections and deaths may be just a little hiccup along the way as China returns to normal from the pandemic. 

This, however, is an illusion created by the CCP, namely, that China is prospering under the rule of the “Glorious CCP.” Such an illusion has been cast upon the Chinese people since the CCP took power in 1949. To truly learn the facts, Chinese people would need to see how their family members, relatives, coworkers, and other people in their community are actually faring. This information is much more reliable than the “news” fed to them by the state-owned media or what they might observe as total strangers going about their lives. After all, from less than 600 million in 1950 to one billion in 1982 to 1.4 billion in 2016, China has always been the most populated nation and remains so in 2022. As a result, if a very low percentage of people go missing or die due to persecution or other government policies, one may not notice until they themselves, or their loved ones or acquaintances are hit with the same tragedy. 

Forgotten Numbers

When the CCP targeted capitalists and ruthlessly seized their assets in the so-called Three-Anti and Five-Anti Campaigns in the 1950s, many business owners felt so hopeless that they committed suicide to avoid further humiliation. Chen Yi, then mayor of Shanghai, while enjoying his afternoon tea asked his secretary, “How many paratroopers [those jumping out of tall buildings] are there today?”

This is one of the countless tragedies people have forgotten. Similarly, many landlords in the countryside were humiliated and killed, their wives and daughters raped, but those living in Beijing would not know. In some areas, 5% of intellectuals were attacked according to Mao Zedong’s instructions during the Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957-1959), but none of the cases were reported in newspapers at the time. The media instead publicized the CCP’s propaganda to stir up hatred against intellectuals.

This whitewashed history has been repeated in recent years. Regardless of how many died in the SARS epidemic in 2003, people may not have noticed by looking at the streets of Shanghai. Former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999 and gave orders to kill innocent practitioners for their organs. Hospitals and surgeons knew about the forced organ harvesting, but not the average citizen – until some found their own children missing, possibly targeted for their organs.

This is the real tragedy: people are numb about others’ losses, let alone do they take action to help them. After the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a large number of loyal CCP members were taken to remote areas and secretly executed, but ordinary citizens might not have noticed, since the number of people on the streets remained roughly the same. 

In the current pandemic, the CCP seldom allowed COVID to be listed as the cause of death on death certificates, and many family members of the deceased, who have become numb, have dared not challenge the regime. They’ve learned to continue life as usual to keep themselves “safe” from retaliation or persecution by the regime. 

China boasts the largest population in the world. Even if millions or tens of millions of people die in a political campaign, it is still a relatively small fraction of the total population. Under the long-term brainwashing with hate propaganda against targeted groups, the general public does not know, or does not care, about the victims’ suffering – until they themselves become the next group of victims. 

Our Lives and Future

But China was not like this in the past. In ancient times, people believed in kindness, honesty, and respect among one another until the CCP took power in 1949. For thousands of years, people believed in being good, improving themselves, and achieving harmony between heaven, earth, and mankind. 

It is the CCP that has indoctrinated people with the communist ideology of falsehood, evil, and class struggle, killed innocent Chinese citizens, threatened our world, and ruined the future of our children. It is time to take a step back, reclaim our conscience, and return to the path where we belong. 

Across cultures, people believed that plagues targeted those who committed bad deeds in their current or previous lives, such as those crimes related to religious persecution during the Roman Empire. As the CCP has risen to be a major world economy, it has also infiltrated many other countries and exported its persecution of faith groups such as Falun Gong practitioners. It is now all the more important for us to reject the CCP to ensure a healthy and safe future.