BRAVERY: Dr. David Gao stands in front of the cliffs of La Jolla in San Diego, California. Gao is the president of the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, a movement of Chinese withdrawing their membership from the Chinese Communist Party. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)
Each day, close to 50,000 people withdraw—and that number is growing.
The peaceful movement, known as “Tui Dang” or “Quit the Party,” was started by the Chinese people in 2004. It has been steadily spreading through China with the help of various volunteers both inside China and abroad.
Dr. David Gao is the president of the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP (Service Center)—the network of volunteers who are leading the effort. He spoke with The Epoch Times about the situation during a phone interview.
When asked how the large number of withdrawals can be verified, Gao said that there are several ways. Most fundamentally, the Service Center keeps a record of every name, date, and statement they receive. Their Web site has a searchable daily listing that has documented the information of every withdrawal in the entire 4 1/2 years since the movement started.
The withdrawals come from the Chinese Communist Party, the Young Pioneers, of the Communist Youth League.
Also on the Web site of the Service Center—which is currently only in Chinese—there are millions of personal statements from those who quit. Their writings include “their stories, the process of how they realized the evil of the CCP, and the process of how they made the decision [to quit the Party,]” Gao said. “They are very vivid stories. You couldn’t make them up.”
Of the more than 54 million people who have quit, nearly one in every ten have left personal statements.
A Growing Movement
Gao said that the statements and withdrawals come from every corner of China, ranging from those who have been persecuted by the regime to regime officials, farmers, and religious believers.
Sometimes while visiting places such as Hong Kong and Thailand, people bring name lists to the Service Centers of every person in entire towns and workplaces who all want to quit the Party.
“Last year, at one time we received a list of over 2,000 people from a village in southern China. They were very angry because their land was taken by a communist officer, so all the farmers in the village quit [the Party],” Gao said.
People’s reasons for quitting the party often vary. According to Gao, “some people read the ‘Nine Commentaries’ and realize that the CCP is so evil. They’ve killed over 80 million Chinese, alter their history, and always lie to the Chinese people.”
“Some people, such as farmers and military personnel, have lost everything and have no job and no food because of the corruption of their local officials,” Gao said, adding that after such people quit the CCP, they often tell their friends and family to do the same.
According to Gao, the higher ranking officials of the CCP often quit the Party as they know the truth behind its system. “They understand that the Communist Party will collapse in the near future,” Gao said. “They announce to quit before that happens.”
Still, Gao said that religious belief is among the main reasons people quit the CCP.
A Culture of Belief
Among the more high profile people who quit the party is Sun Yanjun, a professor of psychology and religion from the Capital Normal University in Beijing.
After defecting to the United States in January, he exposed to U.S. Congress and reporters why the CCP keeps tight control over religions. “If they want to control people’s minds, they have to control religion,” Yanjun told The Epoch Times, following a rally in New York on April 26.
According to Gao, the religious beliefs of the Chinese people still exist strongly, despite decades of suppression and persecution. Ideas such as good being rewarded and evil being punished, reincarnation, and good values are deeply ingrained in China’s traditional culture. During the Cultural Revolution, belief in god and heaven were labeled “superstition” or “Mi Xin.”
Gao said that China has a vast history, “only in the last 50 years since the CCP gained control did the thought control and widespread fighting and killing begin. They restrict free belief and free religion and they’ve damaged the traditional virtue standards of the Chinese people.”
“Through each political movement they kill people and torture people, so a lot of people don’t dare believe in gods or believe in heaven,” Gao said.
Amid the atheist ideology taught by the CCP, many Chinese hide their beliefs. Gao said that when a volunteer speaks to such a person about quitting the CCP, “they think how the CCP killed so many people, damaged the society to such a degree, and how the CCP officials slander gods.”
Due to the cultural belief in karmic retribution, many Chinese people believe the CCP “will repay what they have done and receive punishment from heaven,” Gao said. “This is the main reason why people quit the CCP.”
Ensuring Safety
When asked how people can quit the Party without being persecuted, Gao explained that precautions are taken according to the situation.
“Many people who live in villages and towns quit using their real names and the Communist Party doesn’t dare terrorize them,” Gao said, adding that the regime is still trying to keep knowledge of the movement as quiet as possible. It is the people who work for the regime that need their identities concealed.
Gao said that with such people, they keep a record of their real names and submit an alias publicly. “It’s very important to protect these kinds of people,” he said. “Sometimes they insist on using their real name, so we hide their address and working unit. The communists are angry and try to do something but they don’t know where or who they are.”
In the case that someone is caught by the regime, the Service Center takes the initiative to expose the incident to foreign leaders, the media, and the relatives of the person in other countries. They also hold media conferences and rallies.
Although the CCP is usually unable to find the people who withdraw, “the CCP does arrest volunteers and people who announce to quit,” Gao said.