Motivated by love of China, disgust at the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and guilt over the system he had been part of, a former spy has publicly quit the CCP and urged his former colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Li Fengzhi, a former officer of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), announced his withdrawal from the CCP on Wednesday, joining over 50 million other Chinese who have chosen to denounce the CCP.
Li, now living in the United States, said that the CCP has been harassing and threatening him since he decided to quit his job as an intelligence officer of the MSS. But the harassment did not stop him from finally deciding to quit the CCP publicly.
“On top of many other considerations, my conscience is the most important reason why I openly withdraw from the CCP,” Li said. “Withdrawing from the CCP is a truly patriotic deed, and an effort to save China. Standing up against the CCP is the best way to show my loyalty to my country.”
Li’s father, Li Shuchen, a retired engineer, also quit the CCP some time ago and encouraged him to bravely denounce the CCP for the sake of justice and freedom.
“No one with a background like mine has openly denounced the CCP,” Li said. “I am willing and happy to be the first. Someone has to be the first. All I wish for is that what I’m doing now could help, inspire, and encourage other people.”
Li appealed to people within the CCP, including his former colleagues in the state security system, to awaken to the CCP’s evil nature and coming collapse, and to break away from it before it’s too late.
Quitting the CCP
In the statement in which he quit the CCP, Li wrote: “Since its establishment, the CCP has been acting against the universal moral values of human beings. With its dictatorship, the CCP has suppressed human rights and deprived Chinese people of all rights to freedom and democracy.
“The CCP has relentlessly fooled the people with brazen lies, and shamelessly ruined the authentic Chinese culture. It is the source of many of today’s social, economic, and moral crises in China. The persecution of unarmed people who operate at the grassroots level, religious groups, and dissidents is worsening each day.
“The CCP’s dictatorship has long been the true barrier to China’s progress and development. Therefore, I solemnly announce that I withdraw from the CCP and all its affiliated organizations, in support of conscientious organizations and conscientious individuals like my father, as well as all those who have been and still are persecuted and suppressed by the CCP. I wish my determination could awaken more conscientious people.”
Li said he had given up the last illusion he had for the CCP, and had realized that the CCP is rushing to its doom. “I fully agree with the viewpoint of the Nine Commentaries of the Communist Party,” Li said. “A new China can rise only after the removal of the CCP.”
Couldn’t Remain Silent
Li described his decision in this way: “I knew I had to give up a lot of things when I decided to leave the national security system. I just couldn’t remain silent any longer. The suffering those victims are experiencing keeps wringing my heart.
“I should thank my father for helping me to get to know the evil nature of the CCP. I realized that it is the CCP that hinders the development of China. I don’t want to wait any longer to step up, even though it’s a hard decision for me.“I may put myself in a dangerous situation, but I hope what I do will help others in some way. I think it’s worthwhile. It’s most gratifying if I can be of any help.”
Losing Hope in the CCP
Li needed a very long time to come to understand the nature of the CCP. Going from dissatisfaction to disappointment, to complete despair, and then finally choosing to withdraw from the CCP, Li has had to think through difficult issues.
Li had joined the CCP with pride, enthusiasm, and high aspirations. He put a great deal of effort into his job, hoping that he could contribute to the country, and that the CCP could one day give up doing bad things or some Party members could initiate improvements from inside.
“However, the longer I worked in the CCP, the more information I came to know. And as I had access to more documents and books, as I grew older and more experienced, I would think more deeply and broadly, and I suddenly enlightened. I eventually realized that the CCP is hopeless,” Li recollected.
Li explained: “The CCP starts controlling people from a very young age. They even teach kids how glorious the CCP is when a child first develops the ability to listen to songs. Starting from primary school, the kids would be formed by the CCP’s teachings. The CCP not only crams its stuff into you, it absolutely prevents you from getting to know any other information.
“The kids are just like a piece of white paper. The CCP will paint on it whatever color the Party chooses and that will eventually affect the whole life of the kids. The Party controls the media, distorts the history, and uses any possible means to silence differing voices.
“I’m extremely disappointed at how the CCP has destroyed moral standards and traditional beliefs over the past 60 years. Living modern lives inside high-rise buildings are people who have lost their connection to our five-thousand years of history and culture.
“Lacking good moral guidance, Chinese people nowadays only want to enjoy life today, and don’t care about others or the future. They don’t have a positive attitude towards life. This has a very far-reaching impact on the future of the country.”
In particular, Li mentioned the CCP’s inhuman persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and Christians.
He said: “I believe the CCP will soon realize that it won’t be able to force people to give up their faith and belief. More and more CCP members are dissatisfied with the persecution and even opposed to it.
“However, the CCP’s nature has determined that the Party will not be able to rectify itself from within. The CCP only serves the interest of a handful of top leaders, or even the interest of a single person, just as in the case of Jiang [Jiang Zemin was head of the CCP from 1989 to 2002. In 1999 he began the persecution of Falun Gong.]
“I hope the Party members will understand that the nature of the CCP’s dictatorship determines that it can’t fix its own problem. The CCP would sacrifice the interests of many people to the interests of a small group or even one individual. I can’t bear this any more.”
“My heart is suffering with torment. When you are within the CCP system, in the police system, you are, to some degree, in the privileged class. I couldn’t say anything or do anything to help those victims, no matter how much sympathy I had deep down in my heart. I knew they hated me. I suffered a great deal of pain in my heart. I tried to ease the guilt in my own way, but I realized doing so wouldn’t work and would put me at great risk.”
Pulling Back From the Precipice
Rebuking himself and enduring painful suffering, Mr. Li completely gave up his hopes for the CCP and decided to take action. After taking some measures to protect himself, he left China a few years ago and cut off all connections with the CCP and the MSS. He no longer works as a spy. Since his decision, he has been harassed and threatened by the CCP.
Li said: “While working for the MSS, I was in a PhD program in International Relations. I finished all the requirements except the dissertation and seemed to have a good future ahead. But I left resolutely at that moment. I had tried something and could feel the dead end; I felt completely hopeless about the CCP.
“If I stayed in the CCP, I would have something on my conscience. I had found out that there is no way to serve our country, and you’re considered to be a criminal if you try to serve our country.
“The MSS is supposed to work for the interests of the country. But in the monstrous, stillborn system of the CCP, the party controls the entire country; the interests of the party and the interests of the country are mixed up intentionally. It’s very hard to differentiate sometimes.
“I was troubled, and then I told myself: ‘O.K., I give it up. I will not try anymore, and I will stay away from politics, and stay away from that circle.’”
“I disdained teaming up with them; and I stayed far away from them. In such a system, I don’t want to change myself anymore, and I don’t want to collaborate with them. Since I can’t change them either, then, the only way that I have is to leave, to withdraw.
“I felt that my decision is just like pulling back from a precipice. Before that, I worried about my situation and the thoughts I kept inside. I feared I couldn’t control when my thoughts might pop out. If some kind of movement or incident happened, and I jumped out with a couple of heartfelt comments, I might be ruined because of it.
“Even though I have lost a great deal—all of the hard work of the first half of my life has turned into nothing—I felt that that’s what I should do. I didn’t feel regret at all. Instead, I felt solid and confident. I am selfish in saying this: I am not capable of saving other people’s kids, but I can at least save my own kids.”
True Patriotism
Li detests how the CCP persecutes society. He pointed out that “the CCP is basically evil, and it’s hurting everyone; regardless of gender, age, or social class. It not only endangers the entire nation, but also extends it’s evil deeds to other countries around the world. The Party’s highest ideal and principle is to maintain its role, for which it will do anything. It takes joy in watching others suffer.”
Li said: “The ordinary citizens have no power, and they are at the bottom of the social ladder. They have complaints but there is nowhere for them to express their complaints. In addition, they need to think about how to feed themselves, send their kids to school, and support the family.
“Some of my relatives live in the village. They work hard day after day. And years go by just like that. Their lives are not that much better than when I was little. Right now they even have a television, which is the result of modern times, but one cannot say that is a gift from the communist party.”
Li believes that opposing the communist party is truly patriotic and quitting the party is truly saving China and all its people.
He pointed out that “The CCP holds all the country’s resources and uses all the country’s resources to suppress dissidents. In addition, it also tries to mix the Communist Party with China. It tries its best to mislead people so it can obtain its goal of controlling people. This strategy is not good for our country and also hinders China’s development.”
Li also said: “Without the communist party, China would have developed much faster than it has. Without the communist party, China would have more to show. The economic leaps in recent years are the result of relaxing control on the people. The Chinese people have finally reached their potential. Chinese are wise, intelligent, and hard working by nature. If there is social justice and no additional restraints, they should be able to develop their abilities fully. We should at least be a developed country by now.”
Ministry of State Security Endangers State Security
Li’s job was to collect foreign political and economic intelligence. He said, “The intelligence agencies in other countries basically serve their countries, but in China the MSS only serves the CCP, often does so by unethical means, and does not serve the interests of the country.”
“The Ministries of State Security and Public Security are supposed to protect the wellbeing of the country and the people,” Li said, “but these agencies under the CCP’s control have become political tools used against the people. Examples abound.”
Li said he cannot understand why the CCP suppresses political dissidents with state security forces: “Isn’t it a good thing that some people care about our country so much that they would risk their lives to give the government advice? Why can’t they just listen? Why do they have to respond with cruel persecution?”
Li said that the CCP has always used the country’s legal and security systems as tools to maintain its domination: “As the reach of these systems goes further and deeper into society, government agencies like the public security system have deviated more and more from their true responsibilities and functions.
“When the CCP’s benefit conflicts with that of the country, the national security system will undoubtedly place the CCP’s needs first and do great harm to the country.”
CCP Focuses on Falun Gong
Li said in recent years the CCP has marked Falun Gong practitioners as its primary target of persecution, so it is the national security system’s major task to collect information about Falun Gong. Li was not personally involved in Falun Gong-related work, but he had heard about it from his colleagues.
Li mentioned that the 610 Office, a department established to direct the persecution of Falun Gong, is a monstrous system that originated from the public security system but now has powers that go beyond the entire legal system in China. Li called this office a “freak” that the CCP created and raised to strengthen its powers.
Chinese outside China are not exempt from the CCP’s espionage network either, said Li. “Anyone can be used as a spy,” Li said. “For example, the CCP’s diplomatic forces have taken pains to draw in and corrupt Chinese student organizations. I wish, and I do believe, that one day young students, including those so called patriots who fell for the CCP’s lies, will wake up and see the true face of the CCP.”
Li said the national security system has sent many spies covertly to join Falun Gong practitioner groups outside China in order to collect information and do damage. “Jiang Zemin used to brag about this, but then people realized such espionage does not work on Falun Gong,” Li said.
Li said the persecution of Falun Gong is cruel and appalling, but even the CCP itself has realized it cannot eliminate Falun Gong.
“I believe evil cannot conquer goodness,” Li said. “The persecution of Falun Gong has been a moral stain as well as a strategic failure. Contrary to the CCP’s intention to annihilate Falun Gong, the persecution has actually helped Falun Gong to grow stronger.”
Li said, “The CCP now is stuck with the persecution, being unable to continue or stop the bad things it has done. “I am confident that one day Chinese people will regain the freedom of belief,” he said.
CCP Controls Phoenix TV
The CCP’s Hong Kong mouthpiece, Phoenix TV, created a talk show in which so-called scholars and Chinese church representatives maliciously slandered Falun Gong. Li said this is just one example of the CCP’s efforts outside China.
“I can testify that the Phoenix TV has a national security system background,” Li said. “This is what the CCP calls a ‘strategic arrangement.’ This is one of the CCP’s propaganda and mind control platforms, directly manipulated by agencies like MSS and the Propaganda Department.”
He said this talk show attacking Falun Gong was obviously designed by the CCP.
“Even people who do not know about Phoenix TV’s CCP background can tell this show was political propaganda,” Li said. “Because the show is filled with lame and groundless rumors. In normal media, such poor programs can’t be aired at all.”
‘The Epoch Times’ Transforms Opinions
Li often read news from The Epoch Times website when he was in China. His former colleagues at the MSS have easy access to The Epoch Times website. Epoch Times articles have had a profound impact on the transformation of their opinions.
Li said: “I was a supervisor at the intelligence department. I worked as a spy and assigned my subordinates to work as spies. I also trained people to become spies. I knew their true feelings.
“Within the MSS, there are many people unhappy about the CCP or who even hate it. On the surface, they work for the CCP, but in private, many of them are not happy with it. However, they are passively doing their job for the sake of their families and their self-interest.”
Li said: “For example, it is now time for the two national meetings (National People’s Congress and National Adversary Committee). The National Security Bureau is busy spying on and arresting people. It is difficult for me to comprehend. Why won’t the CCP try to be nice to those people who need to voice their complaints to the appeals office?
“If only the CCP would take the money used to suppress appellants and spend it instead on receiving them and handling their complaints, the CCP would build a better reputation, save a lot of money and resources, and pacify the people. Wouldn’t it be great? Even from the perspective of safeguarding their regime, it would be a good thing!
“I cannot imagine how the CCP can be such an imbecile. I can only conclude that it is mentally deranged.”
Li said: “The CCP is so cruel and cold-hearted in terms of controlling its people, to the point that even the employees at the MSS resent the Party. Attorney Gao Zhisheng’s story has such a profound impact on me. I believe that it also has a lot of impact on the employees at the MSS.
“Mr. Gao was trying to solve a problem within China’s legal system. It is his constitutional and legal right. That’s the way it is supposed to be. But the CCP will stop at nothing to suppress the Chinese people as soon as it spots ‘danger.’ The level of the cruelty of the persecution is beyond any normal person’s imagination.”
He added: “As a human being, I often wondered how some people could do things like that. The next time you beat up someone, that person might be your neighbor, a person you know from shopping in the same grocery store, or someone you meet on the streets. How could you do that? This is because the CCP bribes a small group of people to suppress the majority of the Chinese. Those who persecute others are also victims of the Party.”
Urging Others to Quit
According to Li Fengzhi, he attributed the transformation of his thoughts and opinions to those genuinely moral media and scholars in the free world. He is very thankful to them and wishes he, too, could do something to help more people transform their thoughts and opinions.
Li added: “Those so-called experts engaged in political research in China do not publish anything useful. They only publish things approved by the Party or they won’t be published at all. Once they develop ‘free’ thinking or different opinions from the Party, they won’t have any publicity or the opportunity to become leaders in their academic arena.
“These so-called scholars are actually victims of the CCP. I advise them to give up politics; otherwise, they will become the CCPs henchmen and waste their intelligence, talents, and life.”
Li said: “I also advise members of the Party, including my former colleagues at the National Security Bureau, to see through the wickedness of the CCP, as well as the current situation. Quit the CCP as soon as possible. Abandon the evil path and follow the good path. Atone for your criminal and shameful actions for the sake of peace of heart and a future new life.”
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