Commentary
I grew up in China. For someone who is far too familiar with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime and its tactics, I find striking similarities between what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and an event almost 22 years ago in China.
From eyewitness accounts and video capture, the rally in the vicinity of the Ellipse in Washington seemed just like any other Trump rally of recent months—peaceful, respectful, and patriotic. However, after the crowd marched to Capitol Hill and the joint session of Congress debating and voting on the election results, a small number of protesters became violent.
The acts of violence caused a lockdown inside the building and delayed the election certification. News outlets across the United States and around the world, lawmakers, current and former political leaders and other critics all blamed President Trump for Wednesday’s incident. All of a sudden, peaceful Trump supporters were all labeled “rioters.”
Some details from Jan. 6, visible in widely circulated videos, particularly caught my eye. In one scene, several people dressed as police officers were seen removing the police barricade and waving the demonstrators in, much closer to the Capitol building. In another video, a person dressed as a Capitol police officer opened the door and invited the demonstrators to go up the stairs and get inside the building.
A man confessed on camera that he was paid to be there. Later someone was recognized as a member of Antifa from Philadelphia, and another was a BLM activist from Arizona.
The event in China with similarities happened on April 25, 1999. More than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners went to the Central Appeals Office in Beijing to request that the harassment of practitioners and restrictions on publishing Falun Gong teachings end, and that several dozen unlawfully detained practitioners be released.
Here are some parallels with the Jan. 6 event this year: In Beijing, security forces set up roadblocks in major intersections to intercept practitioners. They then purposefully directed them to assemble immediately outside the Zhongnanhai central government compound, virtually encircling the buildings where the most powerful leaders were.
Afterward, the CCP declared the April 25 gathering to be a “siege” of the central government compound (similar to how media and politicians in America now throw around words like “rioters,” “incitement,” and “insurrection”).
They thus politicized and damaged the reputation of Falun Gong, both in China and abroad. And even though Falun Gong is a completely apolitical, self-improvement practice, the CCP started to push a narrative that Falun Gong was vying for power with the Communist Party. The CCP subsequently began widespread and coordinated attacks against Falun Gong practitioners. Throughout the spring of 1999, a series of events unfolded, culminating in the full-scale persecution campaign launched on July 20.
Framing, defaming, denouncing, and suppressing: these are the tactics routinely adopted by the CCP in mainland China. The world got a glimpse of these tactics in the 2019 anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong.
Now we Americans are seeing a similar plot on our own soil.
For years, many have been sounding alarms of the CCP’s infiltration in our school system, in our business sector, in our political arena, in our military, and in top research facilities. Oftentimes these warnings were brushed off, characterized as “crying wolf.” Yet more and more evidence shows that the CCP wolf has made its lair in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
What would our lives be like if we allowed the CCP and its allies to thrive here? Just ask those who suffered during the 10 years of Cultural Revolution launched by Mao Zedong. Just ask those who have suffered during the 22 years of the persecution of Falun Gong.
And we are already getting a taste: swift and forceful suppressing and silencing of opponents’ voices, a practice known too well by political dissidents in China.
Twitter, a de facto public square online, removed the president’s account even before he finished his term.
Apple, Google, and Amazon worked together to silence Parler, a growing alternative to Twitter for sharing information and ideas.
Some people who attended the protests in Washington are reportedly being fired from their jobs.
Such actions in our country mimic actions to move China toward the “one voice, one party” of the totalitarian CCP regime. The retaliation against Trump supporters is beginning to resemble what Falun Gong practitioners have endured under the CCP for over two decades.
Han Zhou was born in China and has lived in the United States for more than 30 years. She uses a pen name to protect her family in China from possible consequences of her speaking the truth.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.