Victims of Communism Remembrance Month Proclamation Signing Ceremony,
Governor’s Hearing Room, State Capitol, Lincoln
Date/Time: Thursday, June 24, 2021 – 10:30am
Speech of Mr. Wang, Falun Gong practitioner
Mr. Governor and distinguished guests,
Thank you for this opportunity to tell my family’s story.
I was born and grew up in China. I was 7 years old when my mom started practicing Falun Gong, a Buddhist-based meditation practice whose core principles are truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. I still remember those wonderful days as my mom gained significant health benefits from the practice, and became a kinder and more energetic person. However, when the number of Falun Gong practitioners exceeded 70 million, which outnumbered the Chinese Communist Party membership, the CCP launched a brutal campaign to “eradicate” Falun Gong in July 1999, fearing its popularity and independence being a threat to the CCP’s power.
Suddenly, everything changed.
I clearly remember at that time the CCP broadcast propaganda demonizing Falun Gong 24/7 on all media. The atmosphere was terrifying. My mom was arrested when she appealed to the provincial government. It was the first time I experienced deep fear and helplessness, and I was only 11 years old.
Almost every week we learned about how someone we knew was persecuted. My middle school physics teacher was sent to a brainwashing center twice and was tortured each time. A neighbor of us was jailed in a labor camp and forced to do slave labor, though she was in her 70s. A library staff in our community died after being tortured in a brainwashing center.
Fear wasn’t the only heart-wrenching emotion I felt. The dehumanizing propaganda instills hatred toward Falun Gong into many Chinese people’s minds, who thus view Falun Gong as enemy of the state. Imagine how hard for kids like me to grow up being seen that way.
I came to the states in 2016 for my graduate study. But my mom has been under close surveillance by local police since 2018 and she was arrested again in December 2020 for sharing information about Falun Gong. Due to medical reasons, she was eventually released. But the police confiscated her laptop and continued to harass her.
My family is relatively lucky compared to millions of Falun Gong practitioners who were jailed, tortured, or killed in the past 22 years. And this persecution continues to this day.
I hope my story can give you a glimpse at the evilness of communism and why we should stand against the CCP. Thank you!
