The Chinese Communist Party Thrives on Our Apathy
The following speech was given by Friends of Falun Gong Executive Director Alan Adler on on the occasion of the April 25th anniversary in 2021. On April 25, 1999, the Chinese regime used the peaceful appeal of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing as an excuse to launch a smear campaign which lead to and justified the persecution of innocent people. Mr. Adler delivered his remarks in Flushing, New York at a grand march commemorating the occasion. A news report of the event by The Epoch Times can be found here.
Good afternoon everybody, thank you for joining us tonight. What a strange year it’s been.
I think everyone is aware that many of the troubling changes we see in society are the result of the communist ideology’s deep infiltration into our ways of life. Speaking only of the pandemic’s aftermath, the Chinese Communist party has hidden the reality of the situation from the start—not only from its own people, but from the rest of the world. The lockdown measures and heavy-handed precautions adopted by many governments are a direct imitation of the CCP’s tactic of turning a public health crisis into a power grab.
We have seen that during the pandemic, the Chinese Communist party has not relented in its persecution of innocent people. In fact, it has expanded. The persecution of Falun Gong has continued unabated. Lockdowns were used to further perpetuate harassment of religious believers. Not only Falun Gong, but also Christians, Uyghurs, and medical whistleblowers have suffered tremendously during this period. Minghui.org reports that 100 practitioners in China were sentenced for their faith in the first few months of this year alone. Recent reports have revealed that even when practitioners flee China, they are still pursued by Beijing, though they are safely upon our shores. Their parents and relatives who remain in China are harassed and threatened. If these immigrants are not free from the CCP’s grasp, what does that say about the average American citizen?
As an American who has followed the story of Falun Gong over the last 30 years, I can see the trajectory and implications of these recent developments. Falun Gong practitioners are tortured brutally by Chinese police. To many people, their suffering seems extreme and unthinkable. But we must understand that such ill treatment is simply the result of a totalitarian power that has had time to progress. If it can happen there, it can happen here—and if the CCP would succeed in its designs, it will if we don’t stop it. As friends of Falun Gong, to stand up for Falun Gong practitioners’ freedom of belief equates to standing for our own personal freedoms. Because if we don’t stand up now, the oppressors will be emboldened to expand their reach. If we don’t stand up now, we may not have the opportunity to do so in the future, and there will be no one left to stand up for us.
Our work is more important than ever now. The persecution of Falun Gong is only one of the latest in a series of persecutions. In order to keep power the Communist Party singles out one group of people approximately every 10 years to become the new public enemy. That has been the pattern since its inception. Falun Gong has only been one of the more recent groups being persecuted for the sake of the Chinese Communist Party’s power.
We live in a globalized world made smaller by the internet. The Chinese Communist party has already been able to export its reign of terror onto foreign shores. Here in America, we have experienced many examples of infiltration: in our companies, education system, and government at all levels. No area of life is exempt from the poison of the CCP. Therefore, it is our duty to spread the truth about this cancerous danger. It is the most effective tool to enable people to protect themselves.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the 375 million Chinese people who have withdrawn from the CCP and affiliated organizations. By standing up and walking away from the evil regime, you have led the way for the world’s people to see that even in its own country, the CCP is losing support. Your brave individual action, though it may seem small to you, is actually a significant event in history. You have honored your own judgment despite living in an environment where individual choice is subjugated to the whims of a dictatorship. By declaring your withdrawal from the CCP, you have effectively voted with your feet in a country where ordinary citizens are denied the right to vote. We in the west who take for granted the rights and liberties protected by the US Constitution, take heed: these are the everyday heroes in the making. We should learn from their courageous actions, and take steps in our lives to protect the liberties that they so dearly yearned for but were denied.
The Chinese Communist Party thrives on the ignorance and apathy of people around the world. While our backs are turned and our eyes closed, they take advantage of weakness, and do their evil unchecked. The antidote to ignorance and apathy is truthful information. I encourage everyone who is listening here to learn more about the history of the Chinese regime. By understanding it, we inoculate ourselves from being duped by its clever rhetoric and underhanded tactics. We can help those around us to understand the real dangers of inviting the CCP into our institutions, homes, and minds. What has been at work is at least one hundred years of systematic, sinister, and thorough planning. If we are to protect our way of life, we have to treat this with seriousness.
Please take your time to research this topic. Tell your friends about it. In an age of censorship, don’t be afraid to speak out.