(Minghui.org) Mr. Yong and his wife, Cher, were born in the 80s, and grew up in China listening to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) propaganda. They experienced what happened in China during the COVID pandemic, and spent time with some Falun Dafa practitioners, so they gained a deep understanding of the CCP’s true colors. They decided to emigrate to Canada, start a new life, and quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, to distance themselves from the Party.
Meeting a Falun Dafa Practitioner
Mr. Yong was born in a small city in northwestern China. Because he had little access to information from the outside world, his way of thinking followed the CCP’s propaganda and doctrines. He said that there was political censorship on the entrance exams to middle school and high school. There were questions about Falun Dafa, and in order to get good grades, the students had to write answers given by their teachers that slandered Falun Dafa. He said the education he received in China caused him to misunderstand and fear Falun Dafa.
In early 2000 he and his wife moved to Beijing because he worked in a local company. They were not used to the new environment. They met a friendly neighbor, Ms. Jing. She often helped them even though she was not financially well-off, and invited them to eat with her. Mr. Yong described her as a kind and honest person, and she treated them like family.
One day Mr. Yong was told that the police arrested Ms. Jing because she had distributed information about Falun Dafa and put up Falun Dafa banners. He had a change of mind regarding to Falun Dafa, “The practitioner I met is nothing like what the news on television described.”
He began to question the CCP’s propaganda against Falun Dafa.
Reading the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party
The Epoch Times editorial series Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party helps Chinese people to see the true nature of the CCP. Since its publication in 2004, over 400 million Chinese people have quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Mr. Yong said he was shocked and emotional after he read the Nine Commentaries and learned about the crimes the CCP has committed since it usurped power in China.
He said, “After reading the Nine Commentaries, I came to my senses! The CCP’s reign relies on two tactics: deception, and violence. If the Party can deceive you, it will. Knowing that it can only deceive you for so long, the CCP resorts to violence and intimidation to stay in power once people stop listening to its lies.”
At the same time Mr. Yong realized that the CCP was not China. “Every Chinese loves our country, yet the CCP deliberately equates the Party with China. It also purposely keeps people ignorant about their rights as citizens, and does not tell people what rights they have as people.”
Cher believes what’s written in the Nine Commentaries because of some experiences she had as a child. “I was most impressed when I read about the CCP’s family planning. The CCP talks about it as a positive policy. In reality, it’s very cruel and inhumane.” After having a second child Cher’s mother was forcibly sterilized in a village office with poor hygiene, and was carried home on a broken wooden door. Her neighbor was forced to have an abortion when she was eight months pregnant.
“Since I was little, I held negative opinions on many things regarding the CCP. I didn’t like the fact that it said one thing and did another. I think independently and verify what I’m told,” she said.
Accessing True Information Outside the CCP’s Internet Firewall
Mr. Yong planned to make a career in Beijing when he first came, but the economy-wrecking policies during the COVID pandemic changed everything. “Every Chinese who spent those three years in China can tell you many stories. A relative died because he could not be hospitalized, as he could not produce a PCR test report. There were people who came from foreign countries and suffered no serious illnesses, who were isolated in ICUs, yet those with life-threatening illnesses were not allowed to enter the hospitals. There were just too many such absurdities.
“I hadn’t had much time and energy to think about these things before because I was working hard to support my family. I’ve just seen too much in the three years of the COVID pandemic, and I’m disappointed. In the past I felt that I was giving up my freedom in exchange for some bread. After the pandemic I had a rude awakening. There is no freedom in China, and the bread is running out. I went from feeling disappointed to despair.”
He continued to talk about how the Chinese economy looks good only on the outside, but is in fact rotten on the inside. He used the village Cher grew up in as an example. “Looking at the village now you would not believe that it was part of China in the 21st Century after the CCP claimed that it ‘eradicated poverty.’ The village is old and broken like it was 40 to 50 years ago, like time has stopped. The residents are poor.”
Cher added, “The policies and projects developed by the CCP often sound good, but brought no real benefit to people. The older generations in the villages worked hard and gave their best years to the country. Now they are old and have no one to take care of them. They could not even depend on their children because the younger generations do not have means to make a living, especially after the pandemic.”
Three years ago Mr. Yong used the anti-censorship software, Freegate, to read many articles on the Epoch Times and Minghui websites. The articles contained information that was different from what was reported by media outlets in China, and he believes that they reflected the true situation in China. The couple decided to emigrate to have a better life, as they had lost hope in the CCP.
Distancing Themselves from the CCP
The couple visited a relative in Canada, and wanted to spend time learning more about the local schools and job market. They rented a place from a family of Falun Dafa practitioners. When the practitioners told them about the movement of quitting the CCP and its affiliates, the couple immediately agreed to quit. “I have long wanted to make a clean break with it. The main reason that we left China was because I didn’t want to be part of it any longer. The CCP treats us like coal from a human mine. It burns us to ashes, discards us, and then moves on to the next batch. We don’t want to work for and sacrifice for it anymore,” Mr. Yong said.
The couple learned more about the persecution during the month they spent with the practitioners. Mr. Yong likes Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. “Any human being would embrace Truthfulness and Compassion. I believe that everyone needs them, like flowers need water and sunlight. The practitioners we met are very kind and upright. We believe that we made the right decision (to quit the CCP)” he said.
Cher said the practitioners they met were good people, better than most people they knew, after they spent time with some who had been persecuted in China. “The CCP told lies, and practitioners tell the truth. No wonder the CCP cannot tolerate Falun Dafa. The CCP feared that practitioners would form a group to overthrow its reign. It overestimates itself. Practitioners have no interest in its power.”
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