OTTAWA—Ms. Zhang Jiyan, wife of a diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Canada, attended a rally yesterday morning on Canada's Parliament Hill to support the 20 million Chinese people who have withdrawn from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). At a press conference in the afternoon she publicly announced her support of these people who have broken away from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. This incident has attracted much media attention.
More than 100 people from Eastern Canada gathered at the rally. Canadian Member of Parliament Rob Anders gave a speech. Former Canadian diplomat Brian McAdam also attended. In addition, support letters were received from renowned Jewish scholar Rabbi Reuven Bulka and David Harris, Senior Fellow for National Security with the Canadian Coalition for Democracies.
'A New China'
Forty-eight-year-old Zhang Jiyan is the wife of a diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Canada. She is also a Falun Gong practitioner. Zhang attracted the attention of the embassy for privately speaking with other embassy staff about the true situation of the Falun Gong and its persecution in China. The embassy began to monitor her and planned to confiscate her passport. Because of this pressure and to escape from being returned to China to face persecution, she made a decision on March 5 to leave the Chinese embassy.
Zhang said in her statement, "At this event to support 20 million who have quit the Chinese communist party and its affiliated organizations, I not only find it a great pleasure to see so many Chinese people awakening to say "no" to the Chinese Communist party, but I also take pride in myself being one of them and can stand forward today to let out the words that have been hidden in my heart.
"In China, half of the population has been subject to persecution in one way or another in the so-called political movements. Since the Chinese communist party came to exist, 80 million Chinese nationals have been slaughtered. The Chinese communist party's depletion of the Chinese people's spiritual life has been a persecution of the nation's soul, which is a destruction that has affected everyone. In replacement, the party has used its communist ideology to poison the minds of the Chinese for several generations."
Zhang revealed that the persecution of Falun Gong is not limited to Mainland China. Chinese embassies abroad have also become headquarters for attacking Falun Gong. Moreover, she spoke about a department within the Chinese embassy in Canada specially created to gather information about Falun Gong practitioners and political dissidents.
Control Over Chinese Communities
Zhang noted that the Chinese ambassador had mentioned at an embassy all-staff meeting that he has delivered materials defaming Falun Gong to Canadian Members of Parliament, Canadian government officials, and the former Governor General of Canada. In addition, Chinese diplomats control Chinese communities in Canada in order to influence the mainstream society.
Zhang gave the example that, in 2005 when New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) was applying for permission to broadcast in Canada, embassy officials mobilized the Chinese communities and overseas Chinese students to oppose it by writing to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the regulating agency in Canada.
NTDTV is known to be a voice that dares to report the truth about events in China, she said, including China's human rights violations. She noted that in actual fact, the writers were expressing the opinions of the Chinese embassy. Moreover, embassy officials made great effort to lobby Canada's Rogers Cable TV to prevent NTDTV from landing in Canada.
'Not the Last to Part from CCP'
Zhang continued, "The Chinese Communist Party has now disgraced itself with its long term actions against conscience, and its members have quit or will quit.
In 2005, the whole family of a Chinese staff member at the Chinese embassy in Canada defected.
I am sure that I am not the last to part from CCP in the Chinese embassy; there will be others to follow."
(please see http://en.epochtimes.com/jiuping/newsletter/issue9/#Rally ).
Zhang said she hopes the governments and peoples of countries around the world will "see through the falsehood of the CCP" because "the days of the party are numbered." "A new China without the CCP is already looming on the horizon."
Courageous Real Life Example
At the rally, MP Rob Anders told The Epoch Times that Zhang's defection is very important. There are many stories that need to be told, he said, and the voices need to be magnified. He noted that Zhang is a courageous real-life example that people are breaking away from the CCP. He added that he hopes even more people will follow this example.
In his speech Anders commended Falun Gong practitioners for their presence on Parliament Hill "whether it is rain or sleet or snow." "It's so important for you to share the story of what's going on inside communist China," he said. "You send such an important message to people who are in chains and suffering from torture behind the Bamboo Curtain of communism."
Anders used his own experience as an example, "My personal story is such that if somebody had told me 20 years ago that some of my family who had lived behind the Iron Curtain under the communist rule of Eastern Europe, if somebody had told me that they would be free and that there would no longer be oppression and they wouldn't be stuck in jail for opposing the political party or just for wanting to have spiritual practice outside what the communist party allowed, I wouldn't have believed it.
"But it was because of people in the free world who had sent messages that gave hope to those behind that Iron Curtain. And you today, just like so many other days, especially ones that are colder and damper and uglier weather than we have today, you send messages to those people who are behind that Bamboo Curtain. I thank you."
'Hope Springs from the Courage of the Oppressed'
In his support letter, Rabbi Bulka said, "As the world is unfortunately bowing in front of the economic juggernaut called China, we must not ever forget the brutality being inflicted by the Chinese regime. Doing business with such people is a moral capitulation, and is even bad business. People who kill will also cheat.
"20 million people quitting the communist party may signal the beginning of the end of oppression. This will be the case if we continue to encourage them, and others who will follow their lead. Never give up. Mighty empires may seem invincible, but human will is stronger. Courage and hope—these are the ingredients we need to succeed. God bless you all."
David Harris congratulated the rally organizers and called the celebration of the 20 million withdrawals a "most promising milestone." "With you, I salute those who have chosen freedom over Party, and all others whose dream, work, and ultimate achievement will assuredly be a free China," he said.
Currently Chinese citizens are renouncing their membership in the CCP and its affiliated organizations at a rate of approximately 30,000 per day. By March 30 the total number of withdrawals had already surpassed 20 million. This week events are being held in about ten major cities in Canada in support of the 20 million who have resigned from the CCP.
