In mid-April 2007, Charles Cai, an American, went to China to visit his 80-year-old mother who lived in Changsha City, Hunan Province, and was hospitalized for a serous illness. During his stay, Mr. Cai was harassed and illegally kidnapped by agents from China’s state security bureau, but now he has safely returned to the United States.
Charles Cai is a Falun Gong practitioner and a volunteer for New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), a New York-based TV station dedicated to air objective views about mainland China. Charles said that while he was detained the communist agents asked him many questions about NTDTV, including the International Chinese Classical Dance Competition and its sponsorship. He pointed out that since NTDTV was founded, the Chinese communist agents have never stopped trying to interfere with and disrupt it. He was kidnapped in China probably because he works for the TV station, he said.
Chinese Communist Agents “Care” About NTDTV
On the seventh night after Mr. Cai returned to China to take care of his mother, he walked a friend to a bus stop. On his way back home, out of nowhere half a dozen agents from the state security bureau swarmed on him and surrounded him on the sidewalk. Right after that, a black Chevrolet drove up to the sidewalk and screamed to a stop. Mr. Cai recognized that it was the car that had been following him in the past few days. One of the agents said to him, “Our boss wanted to talk to you. If you don’t cooperate, you may have problems going out of China.” With those words, the agents ushered Mr. Cai into the backseat of the car before it sped away.
In the car, Mr. Cai said to the agents, “Tell me what you want, and don’t waste my time.” One of the agents who appeared to be in charge said, “We'll find a hotel room and then talk.”
Charles noted in particular that probably because they knew what they were doing was not something honest, they hardly spoke the whole way. It was only after they entered a hotel room that a man in his fifties who looked like a boss started questioning him.
Mr. Cai recalled that the agent spoke a local dialect and started by asking him a few questions about his family, work, and health, etc. before turning to the subject they were really interested in. Mr. Cai was asked a lot of questions about Falun Gong, such as “Where do you do your practice?”, “What kinds of people are doing it?”, “Has your Master ever come to your practice site?”, “On what occasion are you able to see your Master?”, etc.
Mr. Cai said that the agents were especially interested in NTDTV, quick in turning to the subject. They asked, “What departments does NTDTV have?”, “Who are the people in charge in those departments?”, “Who is the real boss at NTDTV?”, and “How is NTDTV in Taiwan related to the one in New York?” They also asked about the dance competition, such as “Why was it held?” They kept asking who the sponsors were. They even asked about NTDTV’s future plans and showed concern about truth-clarification tap-ins into China’s TV programs.
“I told them my mother was still very ill and asked them to end the questioning soon. The agent in charge couldn’t do anything but to have me sent home,” said Charles.
Harassment at Home
The following day Mr. Cai took his mother home as she was getting better. Relatives and friends came to see her, and among them were two uninvited guests. Mr. Cai recognized them: one male and one female agent among those who kidnapped him on the sidewalk the night before.
Mr. Cai said that the two agents, with bags of imported milk power and fruits in their hands, claimed that they were from the Office of Overseas Chinese Association in Hunan Province and had come to see his mother. Mr. Cai told everyone that his mother was still weak and needed rest, and asked them to leave. The two agents rose to leave, too. But before they made their way to the door, they whispered to Mr. Cai, “Professor Cai—Specialist Cai, we didn’t want your mother in shock, so we came in the name of the Association. Our boss wanted to make friends with you and invited you to dinner.”
Mr. Cai relied, “I am neither a professor nor a specialist. I came back to see my mother only, and when she gets better I'll go back as soon as possible. So I haven’t time to socialize.” When they saw that there was no way to persuade him, they left, disappointed.
Tired of the communist agents’ harassment, Mr. Cai quietly left his mother and Changsha for the United States the next day, even though his mother had not recovered from her illness.
Mr. Cai said that among the agents involved in his kidnapping, some have read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, an editorial series that exposes the wicked nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and documents its atrocities in history. These agents did not deny the facts enumerated in the Nine Commentaries. In fact, they should be able to know that the CCP has lost the hearts and minds of the people. Mr. Cai expressed his hope that those agents who are assisting the CCP in doing evil deeds stop immediately, so that they will not perish along with the CCP when heaven destroys it. The day will come soon, said Mr. Cai.
