SYDNEY—"The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tight control over overseas Chinese student organizations," said former Sydney Australia Chinese student leader Yang Jun during a recent interview. Yang said that he had personally witnessed the CCP dismantlement of two organizations: the Chinese Student Democratic Movement Association (CSDMA), which had nearly 20,000 members, and the Chinese Educated Youth Association (CEYA).
Chinese Student Democratic Movement Association
"The Chinese Student Democratic Movement Association (CSDMA) was the largest student organization when it was formed in 1989 in Australia to support the Tiananmen Student Movement in China," said Yang. "At that time, there were around 20,000 Chinese students in Australia, of which 17,000 were officially registered as members of the CSDMA. The objective of the organization was to overthrow CCP rule and to establish a democratic system in China."
"The CCP was afraid of the CSDMA," said Yang. The organization's meetings were often disrupted by outsiders who, Yang believed, were sent by the CCP. They created a lot of problems which often frustrated the meeting's organizers. By the time of its third general meeting, Yang almost quit the CSDMA because of continued CCP harassment. He hesitated to leave when members asked him to stay. At one point during the meeting, a man had jumped up claiming to support Yang's campaign for leadership. He shouted "Support Yang! Assist Yang!"
Yang's candidacy for leadership won broad student support. He was then elected. Surprisingly, on the same day, the same man who had supported Yang's candidacy launched attacks against Yang during the afternoon meeting. This individual wanted Yang to change the objectives of the organization from the establishment of a democratic system in China to helping students obtain Australia visas. That same evening, while Yang was absent, the organization's name was changed from "Chinese Student Democratic Movement Association" to "Chinese Citizen Union." Afterwards, the organization changed its anti-communist nature to a "non-profit, non-political and non-religious" organization.
The CSDMA was strongly supported by the Labor Party in New South Wales. Its chairperson said the CSDMA should be supported, as were other pro-democracy groups such as the Solidarity Trades Unions in Poland. In the 150-year history of the Chinese in Australia, there had never been such a large-scale Chinese organization. The Labor Party believed that in the near future, the CSDMA would be closely linked to democracy in China. In support of their continuing efforts and to further this goal, the Labor Party provided CSDMA with an office at Labor Party headquarters.
Later, the CSDMA as such a massive organization ceased to exist. The individual who had at first supported Yang but then attempted to change the organization's objectives away from democracy was invited back to China by the CCP in 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to the mainland. This individual was observed sitting in a place of honor in the CCP reviewing stands during the parade celebrating the event.
Yang recalls how the man had contrived to get close to him through his friends. Yang came to the conclusion that this individual had started to work for the CCP before he joined the CSDMA. The largest Chinese democratic organization in the world had been dismantled from within, under the direction of the CCP.
Chinese Educated Youth Union
Another organization, Chinese Educated Youth Union, was formed by some Chinese, who had the experience of being sent to work in the countryside or mountains during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). It had roughly two or three hundred members. When it was first organized, everyone got together and shared memories about their education and their youth, recalling and recollecting the good times of the past. The group had no other objectives. But the CCP kept a close watch on the activities of even this purely social organization.
The president of the organization was soon subdued by the CCP's united-front tactics. When he returned to mainland China, police cars led his motorcade through traffic. He was treated as an honored guest of the CCP. In 2003 when the SARS epidemic had run its course, he published an article celebrating the CCP's victory over SARS. He used the name of the Chinese Educated Youth Union without the consent of its members.
At that time Yang, as the vice president of the CEYA, was a target of the CCP's united front. An officer with the last name Yan from the Chinese Consulate in Sydney obtained Yang's phone number from the president and invited Yang for dinner. Yang refused the invitation.
When members planned to replace the pro-communist president, they selected a more neutral member to be the next presidential candidate. But the CCP talked to him and applied pressure before he was elected. He dared not to take the role of the CEYA's president without the permission of the CCP.
A social club, which was just about "the recollection of the past", was hence dissolved by the CCP.
"Any Chinese overseas organization not following the directives of the CCP will be suppressed," said Yang. "The evil nature of CCP can be seen in these examples."
