I was born and raised in a Communist country, where I experienced food shortages, censorship, the Cultural Revolution, lawlessness, forced abortions, inflation, government corruption, and perpetual one-party rule. Our constitution guarantees no fundamental human rights—no right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. We have no freedom of speech or religion.
Deception as a Tool of Total Government Control
Communism is built on lies. It begins with politicians telling and spreading falsehoods. In 1949, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), began his takeover of China. To consolidate power, he promised to lift the poor out of poverty and give them the good life they dreamed of. He took three key actions to equalize and redistribute wealth. The result was extreme poverty, Chinese living on less than $1 per person per day.
First, Mao used propaganda to incite hatred among the population. Wealthy individuals, such as landlords and business owners, were labeled as the ultra-right and publicly shamed. The government organized public gatherings where peasants and the poor were encouraged to openly attack these individuals. This manufactured hatred justified the CCP’s actions, resulting in over one million people being killed between 1949 to 1952.
Second, Mao confiscated all private lands, declaring that all land belonged to “the people.” The CCP government then implemented a centrally controlled economic system, known as the “planned economy.” Under this system, the government dictated what farmers should plant and how much the manufacturing sectors should produce. The CCP’s goal was to achieve financial equality for everyone through its planning.
The consequences were devastating. Between 1958 and 1961, an estimated 30 to 45 million Chinese citizens died from famine, executions, and forced labor. The country also suffered massive economic and environmental destruction.
Mao then launched the Cultural Revolution, a nationwide campaign that mobilized teenagers and young adults to rebel against traditional Chinese values and heritage. As George Orwell wrote in his book 1984, “Ignorance is strength.” Brainwashed and unaware of their own history, this younger generation became a brutal force against human civilization. Colleges and universities were shut down, while professors and intellectuals were exiled to remote reeducation camps. The country descended into chaos.
Communism Leads to Supply Shortages and Economic Disaster
When politicians who promote Communist talking points gain power, citizens will inevitably go from poor to poorer. I was born in 1966, the year Mao launched the Cultural Revolution. During my childhood, we had no candies or desserts. Like millions of other Chinese children, my happiest time was during the Chinese New Year, because it was the only time we had meat and fish. The only time we had dessert was during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, when mooncakes were available at government-controlled shops.
When I was eight, my parents sent me to stand in line early in the morning to wait for the arrival of mooncakes. It was a long day, and by evening, we were able to buy about two pounds of mooncake—determined by the number of family members. We lived under a rationing system, where everything we bought, from salt to sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, wheat, and corn, required a food ticket.
People had to wait in long lines for everything they needed to buy. In the summer, my parents sent me to stand in line for tomatoes, cucumbers, or eggplants. Hundreds of households in our neighborhood shared a single vegetable distribution store. In the winter, I would join my parents in line, waiting for coal to heat our home.
When I was in middle school, my mother wanted to give me a pretty blouse, but she didn’t have the money to buy one from a store. The tickets the government gave us to buy cotton or cloth were barely enough to purchase fabric for quilts, bed covers, and winter clothes. Quietly, my mother found an old shirt belonging to my aunt, tailored it, and turned it into a beautiful blouse for me.
Like my mother, people remain resilient even under a communist regime. However, the ideology of one-party control over both the government and the economy not only fails but also worsens poverty, leaving the poor even poorer.
“My Body” but the Communist Government’s “Choice”
“My body, my choice” is a popular slogan among pro-abortion activists in the United States. In Communist China, however, the government forced mothers to abort their babies under the guise of reducing the population to “save the world.” In 1985, the military arrived in my aunt’s village and forced all married women to undergo sterilization. My aunt was injured during the procedure, lost her ability to work, and became permanently disabled. The government has never compensated her for this loss.
“Pro-life” did not exist during China’s one-child policy. The government required every married woman to register before planning to have a baby. Failing to register or reporting a pregnancy without prior registration resulted in fines and serious warnings for both the woman and her employer. Repeated offenses could lead to the woman losing her job and her employer losing their business license.
It wasn’t until I came to the U.S. that I understood that abortion is the taking of a life. I was baptized and am now a Christian, having repented for my sins. Today, China is facing the consequences of its forced abortion policies. In 2022, China’s population began to decline, and a recent United Nations report predicts it could drop to 1.3 billion by 2050 and fall further to just 770 million by 2100.
Now, the CCP government is encouraging women to have more children. In one region of China, women were given rice cookers and water bottles for attending events promoting the idea that having children is beneficial. Local governments are even sending text messages and using social media to remind people, particularly on Chinese Valentine’s Day, that marrying young and having children is good for the country. Soon, Chinese authorities may use the tax and social credit system to pressure women into having more children.
The bottom line is that women may have their bodies, but under the communist regime, they have no choice.
One News Channel, Silencing All Opposition
The iconic “Tank Man” photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre has been censored for 35 years. Parents of children murdered during the massacre have been imprisoned simply for attempting to hold memorials for their children—children who dreamed of a democratic system and were brutally killed while fighting for it.
“Do you have social media in China?” My American friends often ask me this question. Today, foreign social media platforms like Google, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and others are all banned in China. The CCP government only permits homegrown platforms like WeChat, where every user is tracked and monitored. If anyone posts comments criticizing the government or shares information the government disapproves of, they will be “visited” by the police immediately.
In China, the government tightly controls both media and education. Every morning, radio stations across 30 provinces broadcast government-approved news. Similarly, every evening from 7:00 to 7:30, TV stations in these provinces air state propaganda. The continuous spread of misinformation, disinformation, and daily brainwashing reinforces the Communist Party’s grip on power.
The latest form of control in China is through social credit scoring. Expressing disagreement with the government on social media will be punished by lowering the citizen’s social credits. When a person’s social credit score falls below 500 points, they lose the ability to travel freely, access their bank accounts, and even enroll their children in good schools.
May Communism Never Take Root in the United States
The Chinese regime, alongside North Korea, Russia, and Iran, harbors a malicious desire to see the United States falter and disappear. While the Chinese Communist Party is known for its constant deception, it does acknowledge one truth: China may surpass the U.S. in economic and military power, but it cannot destroy America because of the latter’s core values and the deep faith of its people in God. Because of this, the CCP seeks every opportunity to infiltrate communism into U.S. society to subvert its foundations.
I pray that God will always protect America from the threat of communism, because America is “the last best hope of earth”