I graduated from Peking University in 1989. Just a few years ago, when I arrived in the U.S., a friend of mine asked me about Tank Man. “Tank Man?” – I shook my head; he could have as well be talking about E.T. “Tank who? What are you talking about?” I asked with a perplexed look in […]
Category: Human Rights Violations in China
Last Saturday evening, I had the opportunity to join a group of people in a small studio in the capital of the United States to watch a documentary titled In Search of My Sister. Rushan Abbas — a Uyghur human rights activist and the main character of the documentary — attended this screening. “Imagine in […]
While volunteering at my church’s soup kitchen, I often serve dinner to homeless individuals and new immigrants, many of whom speak little English. A recurring question emerges from these interactions, “Where are you from?” The Vietnamese guests are curious to know whether I share their heritage. Hispanics, recognizing that I am Asian, wonder whether my […]
In the 1970s, my father subscribed to a tabloid newspaper called Reference News. The newspaper has been run by the Chinese government, and for decades, has been the only official channel for the Chinese public to have a glimpse of the outside world and learn the news about foreign countries. Because the Chinese authorities control […]
Every year, as June 4 approaches, I write articles to commemorate the 1989 pro-democracy student movement in China. The Tiananmen Massacre occurred on June 4th, 34 years ago. As a Chinese living outside of China, I have the privilege of “witnessing” the amazing courage of Tank Man and learning the true history of the event. […]
“History is a good place to visit, but a hard place to stay.” Pastor Foster of the New Life Assembly of God in Ohio often said this to us during his services. In this blog, I would like to visit briefly the Third Reich of the Nazi Germany and look at the potential danger of […]
Killing the chicken to scare the monkey is a popular Chinese idiom. The idiom came from an old folktale. In the story, a street entertainer earned a lot of money with his dancing monkey, but one day his monkey refused to dance. Then, the entertainer killed a live chicken in front of the monkey. The […]
“Imagine one day, you don’t hear from your husband, or your child. That day turns into a year, a year turns into five years. And still nothing. In Australia and around the world, this is the reality that Uyghurs know all too well.” A Uyghur man living in Australia tweeted on social media, hoping that […]
A nightmare has been haunting me since I left China. In those terrible dreams, I go back home to see my elderly parents, then I get trapped in China, and find no way back to the United States. Many times, I woke up from the nightmare with pounding heartbeat and drenched in sweat. I pinched […]
Thirty-three years ago, I was one of the college students who were sitting in the gigantic Tiananmen Square day and night, demanding freedom and hoping China’s communist regime would change into a democratic system. Thirty-three years ago today was a hot day. At nightfall, military tanks started moving from the western suburb of Beijing to […]