Tuidang Reshapes Chinese Society
[Photo caption: The cover of the book, “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,” by Epoch Times. The book started the “Tuidang” (Quit the Party) movement in China. (Epoch Times)]
In 2004, the Chinese Epoch Times published an editorial series entitled, “The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.” After it was published, a movement sprang up almost overnight. Literally translating as “quit the party”, Tuidang refers to people withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. The mission of Tuidang also includes informing people about communism and documenting the crimes of communism. The following is an excerpt from an interview conducted by Friends of Falun Gong with David Tompkins. Tompkins is the Director of Public Relations for the Tuidang Movement.
What is the significance of Tuidang to the Chinese people? It sets people’s minds free. People are terrorized by the CCP. They have to let go of the terror to be free to think critically about the CCP. The CCP has killed 80 million Chinese since it took power in 1949. When the CCP collapses people will feel free and understand the responsibilities of freedom and the meaning of freedom.
Are the Chinese people aware of this fear? When you talk to them, you won’t get much of a sense of it. It is created by the censorship and propaganda produced by the CCP. Even outside of China, Chinese people won’t access the free information that is available. It becomes a prison of the mind. That is why we talk to Chinese tourists and encourage them to quite the CCP. It is a difficult process to break free of the prison. As more people quit other people are gaining confidence that the CCP will collapse. Even CCP officials are trying to escape. Everyone is creating a last-minute escape plan to get out just before the collapse.
What is the significance of Tuidang for Western policy makers? The Americans are engaging and setting up ties with the CCP. There is a belief that more engagement will cause the Chinese people to have a taste for freedom but they underestimate the power of the propaganda and censorship. The CCP strategy is completely different. They will say whatever the United States wants to hear. They used to talk about China’s peaceful rise but now they don’t because they have more power. The number one thing is that you have to understand the problem in order to solve it. The problem with communism is that it is not a political problem. It is a moral problem. It is a problem that gets to the heart of our values. We define it as a political problem, but it is a moral problem. Tuidang deals with it as a moral problem. We will free the Chinese people. We are not telling people what political system to adopt. We are freeing them. It appears to the Chinese people that American leaders are standing shoulder to shoulder with the CCP. Support for Tuidang is the best way to support the Chinese people because it is dealing with the root of the problem. The Tuidang movement is for everyone.
Why don’t Western governments understand this? They don’t understand communism. In the Ukraine, they are de-communizing. Western governments have been critical but they don’t understand that the communists reduced the population of Ukraine by 25 per cent when they were in power in the 30s. Living under a communist system is different than the understanding you get when you look at it from the outside. People today don’t really know what is going on in China. If you want to understand Tuidang you have understand the way the CCP looks at its people and how it treats them. There are many many people in the U.S. who are acting on behalf of the CCP but the American government is not dealing with it. They are used to dealing with spies, but that is not how the CCP is collecting information.
The Tuidang Movement website says that over 200 million people have withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. That seems like a very large number of people. Why should we believe that number? Every single statement is validated manually. There are people who validate these statements 24/7 when they come in. There are some that are accepted and there are some that are not. Some of the statements are true. Some are intentional sabotage. Some are providing information. Security is very tight. In ten years the data has not been compromised.
Would you be willing to show the details of the evidence to verify the number of withdrawals? It would be possible to arrange for a congressperson or similarly senior government official to inspect the data.
The above is an excerpt from an interview with David Tompkins, Director of Public Relations for the Tuidang Movement. It has been edited for brevity and clarity. For more information about Tuidang, you can reach David Tompkins at davidtompkins@tuidang.org.