(2048 x 1536 px, 72 dpi)
Youzhi Ma, Vice President of the San Francisco Chinese Epoch Times, described his personal experience at a press conference on Monday, February 13, of having his house broken into twice last year. However, the thieves were not targeting valuables—they were after information. The recent beating of Yuan Li, The Epoch Times' information technology specialist, is the most brutal case of harassment and theft against Epoch Times staff, but it is not the only one.
The first incident was on January 18, 2005, when Ma discovered that two laptops, as well as some cash and a few other valuables, were gone. Nevertheless, the thieves left many potentially valuable items in the house, including some jewelry.
Ma, who is a Falun Gong practitioner, wrote in a statement to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) on February 9, 2006 that it was "very similar to incidents that happened to other Falun Gong practitioners, where the thieves were more interested in data or information than other things."
Ma believes that one reason there is an interest in his information is that he has been highly involved in setting up and speaking in forums on The Epoch Times' Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a series of editorials that exposes the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has caused over eight million people to renounce the CCP.
The authors of the Nine Commentaries have been kept anonymous, and the CCP has gone to great lengths in order to try to find out who they are. Ma is an editor and coordinator for the commentary articles from authors living in China and he suspects that his laptops were stolen as an attempt to learn the identities of the authors of the Nine Commentaries.
Yuan Li, who was recently beaten inside of his own home, also had his laptops stolen. Li was involved with the Nine Commentaries, as well, with managing related websites, including the one used to renounce the CCP.
Pressure from Family Linked to CCP
Inside of China, the CCP has pressured the families of Epoch Times staff in order to get them to stop their involvement with the paper and its role in exposing the crimes of the CCP. The National Security Bureau in China has been known to deliver threats to people overseas via family members inside of China.
Something of this sort also appears to have happened to Ma. Ma's statement noted that the day after the robbery, "my elder sister, who works for the local Chinese government, called me. Since calling from China is very expensive, my sister only had called me once or twice during the past 20 years when there were urgent things at home. She sounded nervous and strange on the phone as if she was repeating some scripts written for her." His sister also asked him to return to China to visit his ailing father.
Ma also received a letter from his father, dated before the theft, but received afterwards, which Ma paraphrased as saying: "a) our family depends on the Chinese Communist Party, its government and organization; b) he hopes that I could go back to visit; c) let my parents live in peace at their old age; d) he asked me not to attend any activities and meetings that I should not be attending."
"After [the incident], I got repeated calls and messages left on my answer machine from my father and mother, sisters, and even a letter from my niece, all asking me to stop what I am doing, in order for them to have a future in China," Ma said in his statement to the HRC.
In March 2005, Ma's father was hit by someone on a motorcycle while riding his bicycle, resulting in a broken arm. "The methods of intimidating me did not work, so then this incident happened," said Ma. "This incident may be related, because they know that I am very close with my father and mother, so they want me to go back to visit my father."
Ma's sister also tries to pressure him to come back, accusing him of being a bad son, and saying that there would be no problems if he returned to China. "I know that's probably a trap," Ma said. "Looking at Charles Lee [a U.S. citizen who was recently released from Chinese prison after three years], and the agency from the United States also warned me that it's pretty dangerous—it's not safe to visit China."
Another incident took place on November 11, 2005, when Ma found his house ransacked.
Ma believes that the threats to stop his activities, including the communication from his family, originate from the CCP. He said in a letter detailing his experience, "My family members in China had no knowledge and had no means to know of my involvement unless the CCP agents told them and threatened them." Additionally, that the thieves were more interested in information than anything else points towards the CCP's involvement, said Ma.
When asked if any of the intimidation had affected his resolve, Ma said, "Not really. The only thing is that from my experience, I can see that what the Nine Commentaries said is true, and how evil the Communist Party is: they use lies and violence, and if that has not succeeded, then they use the methods of [criminal] society."
The Nine Commentaries reveals true accounts of the CCP—the massive crimes of the Chinese Communist Party; its rule of China through terror, lies and the control of all information; and its attempt to eradicate all traditional morality and religious belief.
Feeds