The Epoch Times holds out amid the shrinking press freedom in Hong Kong, which used to be known as the “paradise of banned books in China.”
With “Truth and Tradition” as its principle, The Epoch Times has been covering real news from all over the world, including the anti-extradition law campaign in Hong Kong, the COVID-19 pandemic, and U.S. elections.
Seeing Epoch Times, Chinese Have ‘Beaming Eyes’
Miss Zhang, a staff member of The Epoch Times’ distribution department, joined the team after reading the publication’s editorial series “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.”Hong Kong’s Banned Books a ‘Total Wipeout’
The publishers’ situation in Hong Kong can be called a “total wipeout,” with all political magazines shut down and many independent bookstores closing after the National Security Law passed in 2020, said Choi Yung Mei, the former editor of Open Magazine.“The free publishing industry is probably the hardest hit among all media,” she told The Epoch Times in 2021.
According to a Hong Kong pastor who chose to be anonymous, it was already “impossible” for Hong Kong to freely publish banned political books as it was in the past, as publishers will self-censor to avoid violating the National Security Law.
The Epoch Times in CCP Officials’ Families
In June 2023, Zhang Guilin, a former state assets supervisory official, was expelled from office and the CCP for “serious disciplinary offenses.” Mr. Zhang was notified of a charge of “possessing and reading books and journals with serious political issues,” which was at the top of all his charges.Yang Zhu (a pseudonym), the child of an official in Beijing, said that many CCP officials now read books and magazines with so-called serious political issues.
According to Mr. Yang, what caused Mr. Zhang to be removed from his position were books published in Hong Kong by Bao Pu.
“I heard that even the New Epoch Weekly by The Epoch Times were also searched out at Zhang Guilin’s place,” he said.
Bao Pu, the son of Bao Tong, secretary to former CCP leader Zhao Ziyang, is the founder of Hong Kong’s New Century Press, which published many books on modern Chinese history and CCP politics, such as “Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang” and “The Secret Emotional life of Zhou Enlai.”
Journalist in Exile: Truth the Precondition of Choosing
Zhao Lanjian, a veteran Chinese journalist now living in the United States, said that access to information and the truth is the first condition for any person to make a choice.CCP officials know this all too well. The banned books have actually become the truth from another perspective, and even a tool to save lives for many officials, he told The Epoch Times in June 2023.
Mr. Zhao recalled that in 1992, he saw many banned books in the home of a classmate whose parents were officials in Tonghua City, Jilin Province.
“It was the banned political books in Hong Kong and Taiwan that were popular in those days. The three children of the family were all sent to Germany for study later. [They] never returned. This is the driving force behind banned books,” he said.
Sheng Xue, a Canada-based writer, said that while the CCP has become more and more strict in blocking information, “humans have the natural instinct to seek knowledge and the truth.”
Epoch Times Publisher: Reporting Truth Under Pressure
Under the suppression of the communist regime, the 20-year journey of The Epoch Times has been full of difficulties and trials. In addition to not being able to find a printing house and rented office space, The Epoch Times’ staff were followed and attacked, clients were threatened and harassed, and printing facilities were violently damaged.“We have stood firm for nearly 20 years without giving up, in order to spread the truth and international concern for the people of China,” Guo Jun, the Hong Kong bureau chief of The Epoch Times, said in a 2019 interview.
“The danger of communism to the world, the harm that the CCP has done to the Chinese nation, the destruction of Chinese culture, these are all crucial issues. The Epoch Times has brought out this core issue in the midst of the chaos, which is of great help to every family and to the development of mankind. What we are doing is very meaningful.”
In a recent interview, Ms. Guo pointed out that the CCP has been using economic means to achieve its political goals by pressurizing governments, consortia, and media around the world.
“In this unprecedented battle between good and evil, the CCP is trying to lower the moral standards of China and the world. However, when society’s morality is on the verge of collapse, the end of humanity will fall,” she said.
Ms. Guo said: “That’s why The Epoch Times has been persistently reporting the truth under such great pressure, hoping to help people recognize the CCP and stick to the bottom line of morality, so that they can understand the heavenly chances revealed, and thus be saved at this time.”