SYDNEY – On July 10, former Chinese consular official, Chen Yonglin, attended a forum with the local Chinese community for the first time since his defection. Chen discussed, from his personal experience, how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) infiltrates and controls the local Chinese community. He also said that some members of the local Chinese community did not understand his defection, and he hoped to establish better communication and understanding with them. He trusts that through this activity, the local Chinese community will better see the nature of the CCP.
He said that during his four-year tenure at the Sydney Consulate, he rarely heard anyone other than Chinese political dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners criticize the CCP. Mostly what he heard for the party was praise. He believes that this is abnormal. In a democratic society like Australia, Chinese people also enjoy democracy and freedom. They openly protest against, and place blame on the Howard administration, yet they lack the courage to mention the crimes against humanity committed by the CCP.
Chen believes that this fear of the CCP stems from years of brainwashing. Almost every Chinese person has been brainwashed by the CCP since childhood. He also noted that many people only see the surface prosperity of China. They hope to make a profit from the CCP, which is understandable. “However, we can’t abandon our principles and give up democracy, freedom, and human rights. We can’t live like dogs or pigs. We have to live like human beings,” said Chen.
The three main causes for his defection are outlined below:
To Free Himself from the CCP’s Spiritual Control and the Persecution of Conscience.
This aspect includes the death of his father by persecution in the Cultural Revolution, which has left a profound impression on his heart. He also witnessed the bloody massacre which took place during the "June 4th event" in Tiananmen Square, and additionally he was forced to perform duties against his conscience while stationed abroad in Sydney.
He said: "Many people have the misconception that we have an upper class life, while in reality, our diplomatic life is like imprisonment. On the surface, we are elegant, wearing formal dress to attend cocktail parties, meeting other diplomats for meals, and those who do not know us find it hard to understand." A few days ago, Fu Ying told Chen Yonglin that he was greedy, that being a young person, the CCP government had given him so much; had given him the position of first secretary, so why was he still not satisfied? Chen Yonglin replied: "I am not satisfied because I do not have any freedom in the consulate; what I am pursuing is freedom, not wealth. If I was greedy for wealth, I would then follow Fu Ying’s way in order to obtain promotion and wealth, as the income of a corrupt CCP official is far beyond the income of a common Australian."
He disclosed that consulate life even requires them to ask permission to go out. He said: "We are not allowed to have personal friends. Since we work in the Chinese consulate, there are people who wish to befriend me, and some of them are informers who wanted to talk with me, but I must always make a verbal or written report to the leadership.
Stationed abroad in the Chinese consulate, we have no personal life, and should we make a personal friend one day, we are suspected, regardless of whether or not we have revealed CCP secrets or done anything to profit our family or ourselves. Therefore, whenever we go out or attend a social event, at least two are sent together to oversee each other. Therefore it is rare that one sees only one of us attending any social event. Everyone must report his whereabouts, the reason for being there, and what has been said. Generally, everything we say is all prepared in advance."
Before going outside, one’s passport must be handed in to the consulate, and the control of the CCP has been to the point of being unbearable. He said: "There is no privacy in our consulate life. There is a master key to everyone’s room; the leadership may open the door to come in at any time. All letters are placed in a box so if I am late to pick up my letters, the leader may open them for inspection — it is just that simple to them. My letters have been opened numerous times, but they never apologized to anyone. Since we are not allowed to have personal friends, what can you say even if they open your letters? The life under the CCP regime is beyond what the western world can comprehend.”
Fear of Severe Persecution on Returning to China because of Helping Falun Gong practitioners
The second reason he gave for his defection was: “During my term of work in the Sydney Consulate, I have helped Falun Gong practitioners, and my successor will know that definitely, so this has made me very anxious about being severely persecuted after going back to China.
"Normally, a Falun Gong practitioner is classified by the CCP government as a dangerous person; there is no passport extension for them, and not just that, but their passport would be confiscated (during the application process). The CCP’s purpose is to create all kinds of trouble in Falun Gong practitioners’ daily lives; this is persecution. It is just like when democratic movement activist Mr. Yuan Hongbing had just arrived in Sydney, the Chinese deputy consulate and even the Chinese Ambassador went to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Immigration to apply pressure to them, to negotiate, and to request them to refuse Yuan Hongbing a visa. The excuse they used is that Yuan has a tourist visa, and as there are so many tourists from China every year, if you give Yuan Hongbing a visa, could Australia handle so many Chinese people (following suit)? It is the same logic that she (Mrs. Fu Ying, current Chinese ambassador in Australia) used two days ago; the logic of “opening the flood gates," and they threatened the Australian government not to give Yuan Hongbing a visa. What they want is just to create trouble in Yuan’s life; to make him feel unsafe, to torture his mind. That is her (Mrs. Fu Ying, current Chinese Ambassador in Australia) true purpose.”
Chen Yonglin said that his successor’s name is Gao Li, and before her arrival in Australia, they had a telephone conversation. "She [should have been] in Australia at the beginning of June, and if she takes over my work she will soon find out what I have done, especially as there was a name list of over 800 Falun Gong practitioners. The majority in the list were just a name; no passport details, no date of birth, as this kind of information needs the Consulate to continue the verification work, but I had already deleted the name list from the computer in the general consulate. If these people go to apply for a visa now, they should not have any trouble. I have dealt with Falun Gong, and I sympathize with them because they follow truthfulness, compassion and forbearance, and especially, I could feel their truth and compassion. The reason why the CCP felt that it was easy to control and persecute Falun Gong is their honesty. When they came to the consulate to collect their passport, (you) could just ask them whether they practice Falun Gong,and they would either answer yes, or not answer at all, so it was very easy to find out, as they do not lie."
Chen’s Support for China’s Democratic Movements and the Overthrow of the CCP’s Despotic Political Power.
During the Cultural Revolution, because his father was good at Chinese calligraphy, and consequently wrote a petition for an innocent villager, the authorities at that time in the village kidnapped him on his way home and beat him to death. This severely traumatized him, and he had never understood the reason for his father’s death. When he witnessed the Tiananmen massacre of the “June 4th event," he began to have some understanding of the CCP's essence. When he appeared in the “June 4th event” commemorations assemblies this year, he announced that he was breaking off completely from the CCP. Later on, he requested a friend to make his announcement public on the website for those wishing to resign from the party.
He said: "Some people thought the Cultural Revolution was only a mistake made by some of the CCP leaders, but just think about it; in the 49 years of the CCP’s ferocious ruling, some eighty million innocent lives have been taken —more than the total casualties in World War II. The CCP system and the CCP’s series of movements were not coincidental. Some felt that the CCP had begun to examine itself after the Cultural Revolution, having introduced the reform and opening-up policy, with the CCP declaring that they had reverted from chaos to righteousness. Was this really so? Simply look at the June 4th event in 1989, when the CCP opened fire on innocent students. Three schoolmates of mine were injured, and one of them was wounded seriously and almost died. Doctors said that they were injured by dum-dum bullets, which are banned by international conventions." [Ed. These bullets explode inside the victim’s body, causing massive injuries.]
He disclosed that, based on his understanding, the suppression of this June 4th event was actually decided in Deng Xiaoping’s residence during a meal. Near the end of the student demonstration movement period, everyone was already discontented with the CCP leaders, especially Deng Xiaoping. People would show their revolt by hanging soda bottles as the symbol for him. After one of Deng Xiaoping's family members learned about this sentiment, they felt that if not suppressed, their descendents and family would die without a burial ground; therefore Deng Xiaoping immediately commenced the suppression. So the suppression was actually for his family’s benefit.
Chen Yonglin acknowledged that the political power of the present CCP is more and more integrated with the economy, so they would not easily give up their family benefits; they would not share power with the people, nor carry out true democracy. He evaluated the present domestic situation, wherein eventually people would rise up to rebel and to overthrow the party.
In response to the question asked by some people as to why he chose to leave at this time rather than earlier, he said that he was just a common person with family, like many others, and so he had endured within the system as much as he could. What compelled his leaving was that he personally heard from 610 office personnel that there were 60 thousand Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted, and as he was directly responsible for supervising their activities, his conscience could not bear it any more. He said: "In the last period of time working in the consulate, every day was as long as a year." Especially after the publication of the "Nine Commentaries on the [Chinese] Communist Party," a series of seminars was held on this topic, and the higher levels asked him to investigate the situation in order to take action. He used a delaying technique, with the excuse that he was busy with the reception of visiting delegations. He said: "With this kind of performance and action, they would not let me off after my return to China; moreover, they may force me to become their accomplice to persecute people, perhaps even having me become an executioner. And lying in front of me at that time was the road to freedom; the best opportunity to break away from the CCP. All of these things caused me to choose this time to leave, and I have been preparing for this for two to three months."
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