DUBLIN, Ireland—In a similar vein to the Irish celebrating Saint Patrick's Day throughout the world, the Chinese abroad have something to celebrate too, 50 million of their fellow countrymen, women and children have quit Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organisations.
Parades have been taking place across the world in the USA, Hong Kong, Canada, Europe and other areas around the world. Dublin's memorial garden was the starting point for the parade in Ireland.
Ming Zhao who organised the event in Dublin told The Epoch Times why this type of activity was so important. “This parade is part of the global celebration which is a major step in the dissolving of the CCP… We also wish to support those courageous Chinese people who dared to resign from the CCP, this parade sends a important message to them of our support.” Mr Zhao also felt that it was important for the Irish people to know what was happening in China.
Mr Zhao explained that in China people can resign from the CCP via special websites which of course are monitored by the authorities, hence there are repercussions for those who resign. Not everyone has access to the internet, in some regions people publish their resignations in public areas even on paper money because it is visible to all.
I followed the parade in Dublin and tried to interview Chinese people along the route to ask them what they thought about the 50 million quitting the CCP. A middle aged Irish man stopped me and said, “These people are amazing, having this parade is like a death sentence for them, they are so brave, because of what they are doing they can never go back to China.” I asked him his name but he refused to give it as he travelled to China a lot. In fact everyone I spoke to refused to give their names. I asked the Irish gentleman why he thought this was the case, he said the following, “See that Bodies Exposition across the road, that's a warning” I asked him to explain.
He said, “That's a horrific thing to be done to you or your family, it's a warning to every Chinese person —be warned this is what could happen to you if you step out of line – that's why it is travelling around the world.”
I asked Mr Zhao why he thought people were reluctant to speak to a reporter, he said “The CCP are deploying a lot of resources to control oversea Chinese people. They use foreign Chinese students and businessmen…The Chinese embassies have their ways of monitoring people.”
I asked Mr Zhao what he thought the Irish public could do to help, he said “From a Western Europe perspective if they had spoken out in 1989 when Tienanmen happened we might not be in this situation today because the CCP wouldn't have been able to become so bold, but now it is still important for the Irish people and the government to be aware of what the CCP are up to."
Global Service Centre for Quitting CCP
Mrs Li Ye who is the Irish representative for the Global Service Centre for Quitting CCP spoke to The Epoch Times after the parade. Mrs Ye told me how people in china are recruited into the CCP
It all starts with the Communist Youth Party which would be like a communist version of the scouts, after that one would progress to the Young Pioneers in secondary school and finally the CCP.
One would pledge one's life to the party when you joined. Nowadays “Your word is your bond” might not mean much to most people, however Mrs Ye was concerned that these party members who had pledged their existence to such an evil organisation should retract their oaths.
My impression was that Mrs Ye was more concerned about these people and her efforts were directed towards helping them. She wanted the CCP to end but primarily she wanted people to quit it before it dissolved. Mrs Ye told me how she would phone people in China to explain to them the importance of quitting the CCP. She said the response was very good with older people who knew about the party's true nature, however younger people have been totally immersed in the party rhetoric so it is harder to explain to them. The same situation existed in Ireland because most of the Chinese people she encountered were students studying here in Dublin.
This was a stark contrast with the youth of Ireland because youth members from two of the main Irish parliamentary party's spoke to the public after the parade. Labour Youth was represented by Brian O'Connor and Young Greens by Barra Roantree.
Brian O'Connor said “The fact that 50 million people have left the CCP in the last four and a half years has absolutely undermined any credibility the CCP has at the moment…today the CCP is crumbling like the Berlin wall with the dissatisfaction of its own members.”
“As a citizen of a country with one of the longest established democracies in Europe, I think we should stand in solidarity with our Chinese friends here and say yes we do support you and yes we do hope that democracy eventually comes to China,” concluded Mr O'Connor.
Barra Roantree from Young Greens said, “The Olympics may have come and gone but the regime still continues to subject Tibetan people and peaceful Falun Gong practitioners to outrageous cruelties, it's only by standing up and maintaining your show of solidarity even when the spotlight is not on China that eventually the regime will be overthrown.”
With respect to the 50 million people who have quit the CCP Mr Roantree said, “This is a ground breaking and much to be welcomed development, it can only be hoped by all decent people soon we will see the end of this cruel, cruel regime.”
