Activists Launch Cross-Country Car Rally to Protest Beijing’s Transnational Repression

Renowned Chinese sculptor Chen Weiming said the CCP’s ‘ideological virus is more dangerous than the pandemic.’

Cross-country car rally participants stand in front of the CCP Virus statue in Liberty Sculpture Park in the Mojave Desert town of Yermo, Calif., on Sept. 6, 2025. Courtesy of Chen Weiming

Hundreds of Chinese human rights supporters gathered near Liberty Sculpture Park in California’s Mojave Desert on Sept. 6 to send off a caravan embarking on a cross-country drive to raise awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational crimes.

The rally was organized by Liberty Sculpture Park together with the Democratic Party of China, the China Democracy and Human Rights Alliance, and the Los Angeles China Democracy Platform. Nearly 30 vehicles joined the caravan at the beginning of the journey, and many of them are to travel through at least 12 states before reaching Washington, D.C.

In an open letter to the public on Aug. 31, the rally organizers called on the American people to recognize Beijing’s efforts to intimidate and suppress dissidents on U.S. soil. They also called for accountability for the CCP’s role in covering up the COVID-19 outbreak.

‘Ideological Virus’

The park’s founder, renowned Chinese dissident sculptor Chen Weiming, is leading the caravan. In a phone interview on the day of its departure, Chen told The Epoch Times that the pandemic originated with the CCP and that it has infected hundreds of millions and killed more than 7 million people worldwide.

“Yet the regime has never faced accountability, nor have victims received compensation,” he said.

Chen said that the CCP’s infiltration into the United States and the broader world is not only political and economic but also ideological.

“We urge the U.S. government and the American people to stay highly vigilant. The CCP’s transnational repression must be met with strong sanctions,” he said.

The CCP’s “ideological virus is more dangerous than the pandemic,” Chen said.

He added that Beijing’s ability to reach into foreign countries to intimidate dissidents and human rights groups stems directly from the lack of sufficient attention to China’s human rights abuses by Western governments.

“If China were a democracy, the CCP would not be able to carry out this kind of repression abroad,” Chen said.

Sculptures as Symbols of Resistance

Liberty Sculpture Park has become a landmark in Southern California and is known for its large installations denouncing the CCP’s human rights abuses. Among them was a 27-foot-tall sculpture titled “CCP Virus,” which was unveiled on June 4, 2021, depicting half of Xi Jinping’s face merged with half a skull and featuring coronavirus spikes on top. Less than two months after it was built, the statue was torched in an arson attack.

Chen and his team later rebuilt the statue. “CCP Virus II” was completed on June 4, 2022, and it continues to stand alongside Interstate 15, visible to passing traffic.

U.S. prosecutors charged three alleged Chinese operatives in the arson case. All of them were indicted in March 2022.

The caravan’s launch comes ahead of a Sept. 25 hearing at a federal court in New York on the arson attack that destroyed the first statue.

For the caravan, Chen created a 14-foot mobile version called “CCP Virus III.” This smaller version is designed to be able to clear bridges along the route. The convoy will carry the statue across the country to spark conversations on China’s human rights issues among diverse communities.

Chen urged Western governments to place human rights at the center of their China policies.

“This must be a priority, not an afterthought,” he said.

Gao Zhisheng’s Wife Joins Send-Off

Among those present was Geng He, wife of disappeared human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has been missing for over eight years after being taken into custody by the CCP. Geng traveled from Northern California to attend the send-off.

She told The Epoch Times in a phone interview that those gathered were united in protesting both the CCP virus and the regime’s long-arm control over overseas Chinese.

“The CCP not only enslaves people inside China but also extends its black hand across the world,” she said. “The virus shattered countless families, but this is only one of many disasters the CCP has inflicted on humanity.”

She said silence is not an option.

“Rejecting the CCP’s long-arm jurisdiction is every overseas Chinese’s responsibility. Threats and intimidation will never work. Truth and justice will ultimately prevail,” she said.

Attacks on Park

In their open letter, the caravan organizers described how Liberty Sculpture Park has repeatedly been the target of sabotage in recent years.

For example, in October 2021, a donation box in the park was tampered with, and fences and installations were vandalized. In March 2022, long-time volunteer Chen Lei confessed to having passed information to the Chinese state security services.

Multiple incidents of theft and vandalism of donation boxes occurred in 2022 and 2023.

In April 2023, the “Tank Man” sculpture was torn apart. The sculpture was built to commemorate a young Chinese man who tried to stop the CCP’s military from moving toward Tiananmen Square by standing in the way of oncoming tanks during the Tiananmen Square Massacre in June 1989. The sculpture was then repaired, according to Chen Weiming.

Artist Chen Weiming's "Tank Man" sculpture is seen at Liberty Sculpture Park in Yermo, Calif., on June 1, 2022. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Changan Blvd on June 5, 1989. AP Photo/Jeff Widener, File

In 2023 and 2024, directional signs and memorial plaques were destroyed. Also in 2024, the “Tank Man” sculpture was damaged again, and two residential RVs at the park were set on fire.

In June and July this year, three guard dogs were killed and several plaques were corroded with chemicals.

Chen said that all these incidents were reported to the local police, but no arrests have been made.

Call to Action

The open letter refers to the virus behind COVID-19 as the “CCP Virus,” stating that Beijing’s deliberate suppression of early outbreak information caused millions of deaths and more than $13 trillion in global economic losses.

“Together, let us expose the CCP’s lies, remember the victims of the pandemic, and defend the freedom and values that define the United States,” the letter concludes.