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For Father's Day, I'd like to talk about my relationship with my dad, Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who's been a political prisoner in the PRC for nearly 20 years now, all of them in solitary confinement.
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And I will tell him that one lesson to draw from his legendary grandpa is that a life devoted to the pursuit of justice is a life well-lived.
Happy Father's Day, dad.
We're thinking of you.
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There are many traits that someone who chooses to take on a totalitarian regime must have.
Foremost among them, in my view, are courage and a passion for justice.
But what I've learned is that, to *fully devote one's life* to the task, as my father did, takes something more.
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Meanwhile, I recently became a father myself.
I hope my son will meet his grandpa someday.
Either way, I will tell him stories about his legendary grandpa.
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And whatever you want to call that something--faith, fanaticism, or something else--it is emphatically not compatible with ordinary family life.
And yet, it seems to me that no totalitarian regime can ever lose power without people possessed of that something.
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I am not such a person.
And, I've realized that the fact that my father is such a person is worthy of deep respect.
True, it has meant hardship for his family, including my mother.
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I was an angry 16-year-old who wanted to hurt him.
But even as I spoke those words, I had some respect for him, and the path he'd chosen.
And, as I've gotten older, my respect has only grown.
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But I now interpret that hardship as part of the sacrifice necessary to contribute to the eventual coming of democracy to China.
Of course, the far bigger hardship is the one he's suffering now.
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Growing up, we didn't have a great relationship.
In fact, the very last words I said to him before visiting him prison were: "I could never respect a man who chooses to leave his wife without a husband and his children without a father."
But even then, it wasn't true.
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This is my father, so the concern and attention is much appreciated. And since I'm up feeding my newborn son anyway, here are some things about him that have shaped my feelings about China and the CCP.
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Will probably regret this but here are some of my hottest takes about the PRC that I usually keep to myself.
1. The value system resulting from CCP rule is a moral disaster. This is hardly an original thought but here's my analysis of *why*: CCP rule fundamentally...
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As a new father of Chinese descent, this story fills me with so much anger and shame I can barely stand it.
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Hey @elonmusk you should know I'm currently suing WeChat for routing the private data of US WeChat users to the Chinese govt
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Thread on why I feel about the CCP the way I do.
Some people assume it's because the CCP imprisoned my father. Actually, no. I was 17 at the time, we were estranged, and the last time I'd seen him I'd basically disowned him. I'd never even been to the PRC at the time.
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Once, while visiting my dad in a PRC prison, a guard said, "You know, what we're doing to your father isn't so bad. We're just restricting his freedom a bit."
Barely able to contain my anger, I replied, "What in this life is more important than freedom?"
He had no response.
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I attended a US event where ordinary PRC students used pseudonyms & hid devices for fear of CCP
Prob bc u're a privileged, unprincipled coward who's never done a thing to stand up for what's right, u may not know that fear
Hence ur view that CCP isn't totalitarian
Anyone who thinks China is anything resembling "totalitarian" has either never been there or is just willfully and completely divorced from reality...
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In the early 80s, my grandparents & their children had to decide: stay or leave the PRC.
One reason my grandfather decided to leave, and to encourage his children to?
Under the CCP, he reasoned, you could never be sure you were safe. The state could come for you at any time...
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A few days ago, I sued the University of Washington for failing to produce docs under WA's open records laws. I'd asked for administrator emails relating to a UW student who'd been detained for using a VPN during a trip home to Xinjiang. (I'd gotten the student's consent.)
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The thing about the Peng Shuai affair is that it proves beyond doubt the Party-state is capable of being shamed into action if people cared enough to try.
That people mostly don't when it comes to, eg, concentration camps, is a scandal and tragedy unto itself.
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Thank you Twitter for the overwhelming response. I just sent a letter to my dad, but might now have to send another one so he knows about this. And if you want to send him one, you can do so at the address in the below tweet (make sure to include the Chinese):
For Father's Day, I'd like to talk about my relationship with my dad, Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who's been a political prisoner in the PRC for nearly 20 years now, all of them in solitary confinement.
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Story time, and some self-promotion
In 2017, I filed a breach-of-trust lawsuit over the Yahoo Human Rights Fund, a $17.3 million fund created in 2007 created to provide humanitarian aid to PRC dissidents imprisoned for online dissent.
As folks might recall...
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...by tens of millions of people over several decades and you begin to see why moral behavior in the PRC is the way it is.
The CCP has made caring about others in a public and meaningful way *dangerous*. How could that not produce moral impoverishment?
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...bullshit that a Californian might risk losing their business over saying something anti-CCP. Totally, utterly, bullshit.
5. I love China. The PRC? Not so much.
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I remember making this point to a white dude on here who actually knows the PRC fairly well, and is relatively pro-CCP, telling him there was stuff he'd never be exposed no matter how good his Chinese was. He got so upset he left the convo. But I was simply telling him the truth.
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3. Still, life in the PRC can be pretty good and extremely comfortable! That is, if you don't care about anything other than eating, shitting, and sleeping. Some Chinese American on this site who was disillusioned w the US once praised the PRC by saying parts of it were...
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2. The Mao era was so traumatizing, and 1989 so brutal, that people are mostly still too traumatized to do anything but accept CCP rule. And bc the CCP forbids public processing of the past, that trauma and the pathologies it engenders will persist.
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...for expressing your extremely normal and extremely human feelings in the PRC?
No.
So you suppress it and go about your materialistic life and bc you are a normal human you eventually rationalize your inaction and growing indifference.
Multiply this trajectory...
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I know tons of ppl from the PRC, including former officials, who enthusiastically join me in criticizing the CCP, in private. But most of them say nothing in public, even if they're in the US, out of fear. I've grown used to it, but I shouldn't. It's bullshit.
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Funny how this principle doesn't apply when the issue is Taiwan
It's almost as if the CCP has @elonmusk by the balls
Let’s try this then: the will of the people who live in the Donbas & Crimea should decide whether they’re part of Russia or Ukraine
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like Disneyland for adults. I thought it was highly telling that she thought that was a good thing. Brave New World indeed.
4. I actually don't think the CCP is interested in affirmatively propagating its ideology abroad these days. The only real pillar left standing is Party...
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Very familiar with both cities and their subway systems. Would pick NYC over GZ in a heartbeat, bc, you know, lack of totalitarianism. But ofc others don't mind totalitarianism if it means clean subways. To each their own I suppose.
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...about their own recent history in order to protect its parochial, lineage-based interests, to avoid an accounting for its historical conduct, and, in so doing, perpetuating trauma.
And that is one reason I feel the way I do about the CCP.
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...prevents ppl from caring about the suffering of others in a meaningful way.
Say you are a young Han Chinese of conscience and think mass internment in Xinjiang is immoral, as normal ppl with normal feelings are likely to believe.
Do you have any meaningful public outlet...
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Hey @wsj this might seem like a small thing but it's not
I doubt @ZhouFengSuo would describe himself as "anti-China"
Instead, I suspect he would describe himself as "anti-CCP"
In fact, the former framing parrots CCP propaganda
@ZhouFengSuo, please correct me if I'm wrong
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...memories).
The problem for the rest of the world is that in this connected age, the exertions necessary to keep that pillar from falling extend well beyond the PRC's borders. As a Chinese American, *that* is what I care and worry about most these days. It's just...
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...he's always been clear-hearted that the CCP is not the country, the culture, the people, or the heritage.
Second, he believes deeply in democratic values and human rights.
He once wrote that the CCP itself would be among the biggest beneficiaries of embracing human rights...
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...and you'd be shit out of luck.
Forty years on, and his wisdom has proven itself over and over again.
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...rule. International communism is dead, dead, dead.
That said, it *is* hell-bent on that pillar not falling, & that's understandable. Massive chaos *is* a risk (albeit one largely of its own creation). So too is retribution against Party members (ppl have long, generational...
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My strong suspicion is that those emails will reflect an unwillingness to publicly advocate for that student owing to fear of jeopardizing lucrative deals with PRC-based institutions.
There can be no denying such deals existed. I'd also asked for docs reflecting such deals.
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And imprisoned PRC dissidents and their families are one step closer to getting the kind of humanitarian aid promised to them back in 2007.
😎
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.@northriverlaw just filed a $25M lawsuit against the People's Republic of China on behalf of a 70-year-old woman who was badly injured after being assaulted by members of the PRC ambassador's staff while exercising her First Amendment rights in DC
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Upon being accused of "collaborating with foreign forces" for his pro-Ukraine content, Wang Jixian points out:
1. His stance is grounded in Confucian humanism
2. Neither "Marx" nor "Lenin" are Chinese names
Thus, he asks, who's *really* "colluding with foreign forces" here?
勾结“境外反华”势力？好大的胆子呀😠 你说谁呢？！ 百家姓里有马克思么？🙄 完整视频 piped.video/watch?v=4_KtBOHW… （重发了一遍，感谢热心网友帮我纠正错误）
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A strong, modern society is made up of strong people. By refusing to devolve power to its people, and by hoarding it for itself, the CCP is almost certainly holding the PRC back. This isn't just a loss for the PRC, but for the whole world. Only CCP insiders gain.
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And just as history's irresistible tide will ultimately reveal the falsity of the charges against him, so too does each passing day bring us closer to the day that democracy will, finally, come to China.
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A recent letter from Zhao Ziyang's former adviser, Yan Jiaqi, to Xi Jinping's current adviser, Wang Huning, calling for the latter to use his influence to obtain the release of my father, Wang Bingzhang, as a humanitarian gesture.
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By contrast, when I said I was also thinking about doing more human rights work, he lit up.
Fourth, he believes deeply in a China that respects ethnic & religious minorities.
During the Cultural Revolution, he spent a few years in Qinghai, working as a barefoot doctor...
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No one knows what his fate will be. It is largely in the hands of senior CCP officials - probably Xi himself at this point.
But one thing he and I know for sure: in the end, his spirit, his love of China and its people, and his belief in its democratic future, will prevail.
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The PRC says it doesn't believe in sanctions, but as a practical matter, don't its coercive trade practices amount to and function as sanctions, with the main difference being that they are undeclared?
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...researcher & surgeon who got a PhD from McGill in 1982, he could've had an unbelievably comfortable life either back in the PRC or in North America. But he gave it up for the life of an impoverished activist bc he believed China needed democracy, human rights....
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Indeed, he encouraged me to be proud of my heritage.
"You're Chinese and you should always be proud of that."
The incredible thing is that these were words he said to me *from behind bars.* Despite the enormous injustice and suffering inflicted in him by the regime...
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...because it would prevent atrocities from being committed against Party members when the Party eventually loses power, as it of course will someday.
And when Meng was first arrested, he suggested that my sister and I, both lawyers, work for her defense. Not bc he thought...
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...she was innocent, or bc he'd become pro-regime, but bc he understood that a true commitment to human rights meant defending the rights even of one's erstwhile "enemies."
Third, he believes deeply in working for the benefit of others. As an accomplished...
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Happy Father's Day dad. No matter how hard the CCP tries to kill it, your democratic spirit, and the deep love of country and humanity it embodies, will never die.
#FreeWangBingzhang
ALT Wang Bingzhang holding his son Times Wang as a toddler.
ALT Wang Bingzhang in a PRC prison.
ALT Stylized poster of Wang Bingzhang.
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Finally, though he entered prison in 2003 as a vigorous 55 year old, he is now an old man, who's suffered multiple strokes, and who's been held in solitary confinement the entirety of his sentence - no doubt bc, even behind bars, authorities fear he'll develop a following.
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First, he is an absolute patriot. Despite having been exiled from the PRC for much of his adult life, and despite qualifying, he refused to ever take foreign citizenship.
"I actually never really liked the US all that much. I love China," he once told me.
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...serving ethnic Tibetans. He developed a great respect for them, and they him. He thought minorities should be given more political power in a federated system. There's no doubt in my mind that had his vision prevailed...
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The last time I saw him was in November 2019, just before the pandemic hit. The years have taken a toll, and we live in constant fear that he will die in prison.
With the PRC having become so nightmarishly totalitarian in recent years, this fear has only grown.
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Does anyone else find it noteworthy that in takes such as these, the CCP is effectively the counterpart of the Taliban?
#环球时报Editorial: From what happened in Afghanistan, those in Taiwan should perceive that once a war breaks out in the Straits, the island’s defense will collapse in hours and US military won’t come to help. As a result, the DPP will quickly surrender. globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1…
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...and the rule of law more.
35 years later, during a prison visit, I mentioned that I was thinking about going for partner at my law firm. He screwed up his face while rubbing his fingers together and said, disapprovingly, "But that's just about money."
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Incredible. In response to citizen resistance, police tell this woman:
"We police didn't cause this, the international situation did. If you keep resisting, there won't be any hope for China. We will go to war with the US. Only the Chinese Communist Party can save China now."
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This is the notice/invite we have to bring with us to visit my father. It's been nearly two years since we've gotten one, so this came as a huge relief. Sadly, the quarantine requirements mean it'll probably be a while before we can actually make the trip.
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The lawsuit is in its early stages, and I'll keep folks updated.
In the meantime, if you want to support such work, which is money-losing for me (I had to hire a local lawyer to file the suit!), you can donate here:
northriverlaw.com/north-rive…
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Both my wife and I grew up in Canada, have progressive views, & are highly critical of US imperialism.
But neither of us want the PRC, led by Xi's CCP, to have a more powerful military than the US, bc we're not idiots.
Yes. And some have naively convinced themselves that America is so awful that a weaker America would be better without realizing that international power is not great v. awful, but relatively better v. relatively worse, and the plausible alternatives to the US are authoritarian.
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He was kidnapped from Vietnam, probably by Party-state agents. MSS officers tortured people he'd previously interacted with in the PRC to give false testimony against him. The Party-state eventually just straight-up fabricated evidence, such as by citing "testimony" from...
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In other words, the CCP is an obviously and understandably self-interested political entity that, to my mind, is deliberately keeping its subjects weak and in the dark...
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Still, I'd be less judgmental about the CCP if I believed their primary motivation was the good of the people. But I am convinced that their primary motivation is the good of the CCP, and particularly its place in history.
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A big eye opener for me in terms of TW identity was my grandma who was a KMT nurse married to a KMT military doctor. I recently asked if she misses China, where she lived until her 20s, and where she still has family. Her answer?
"No. I don't like China."
I was stunned.
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After all, my father is a political prisoner, and I'd prefer that history viewed him positively as well.
But unconditional blood loyalty is frankly a bullshit and medieval motivation for running a country or even being a human being.
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...activists and intellectuals who'd long escaped the PRC, were living in the US at the time, and who've confirmed to me (one gave a sworn declaration) that they were never even contacted by PRC authorities about his case.
This was all to implement an order that, according to...
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Today, we sued Milwaukee Tool over its gloves made with the forced labor of Chinese political prisoners.
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Until I read this I was indifferent to Eileen Gu mainly bc I don't believe in unconditional loyalty to any polity
But I do believe in at least trying to have principles & applying them consistently, esp against one's self-interest
Turns out Gu's just another moral coward
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Fifth, he was deeply feared by the Party-state, which went to great lengths to falsely imprison him.
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As he wrote in his legal appeal, the particulars of his case are insignificant when set against the backdrop of history.
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It remains absolutely astonishing to me that CCP leaders aren't required to disclose their assets. Then again, the last time PRC citizens forcefully demanded such disclosure was in 1989...
Great idea to redistribute wealth in China. Income inequality is indeed too high. Everyone should join this effort. Politburo Standing Committee members can lead by example by disclosing their assets
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In so doing, the CCP is making it impossible for ordinary PRC citizens, like my relative, to publicly make sense of their own history and experiences. That only serves to perpetuate the trauma, to keep those citizens weak and fragmented, and to strengthen the CCP.
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Now, I realize that the CCP's theory, and that of many of its supporters, is that doing so also strengthens the country as a whole, essentially on the theory that 民弱国强 (weak citizens, strong state). But I personally think that is bullshit, especially in the modern age.
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More to the point of this thread, though, what I realized is that the notion that such experiences are irrelevant history is as absurd as saying slavery or Jim Crow are irrelevant history. I consider myself relatively stoic, but in the course of researching and writing...
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This thread is exactly my fam's experience. Waishengren unc went to PRC in 90s, lived/worked in Beijing for ~15 years. He was my host every time I went there. Showed me around, helped me fall in love with the city. Frequently defended CCP/PRC to me.
I caught up w/ a 3rd-gen Chinese-Taiwanese school friend who returned to Taiwan recently. After a decade of studying & working in Shanghai, he believes that it's time to leave China for his own safety. His view went from pro-China to extremely anti-CCP over the past few years. 1/
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Words can barely express the contempt I have for these people, on multiple levels, but I'll try.
First, they're almost universally supremely unimpressive as individuals. They owe their "success," such as it is, largely to the fact that they're white/ English-speaking. They're...
Thread: It's been painful to watch these so-called western influencers partaking in China's disinformation campaign to change the narrative about Xinjiang & the suffering of Uyghurs. With support like this, China continued perpetuating atrocity crimes.
nytimes.com/interactive/2021…
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...well-informed rumor, came from Luo Gan, who was the head of the Political-Legal Committee at the time.
My father had once observed that, despite being a leader in the pro-democracy movement, and unlike unlike some of those with less influence...
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She said yes.
It seems clear to me, then, that we are seeing a significant shift in what being "Taiwanese" means, away from ethnicity, and towards (democratic) ideology.
Which makes my heart happy.
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A few things come to mind, but for the purposes of this thread, I'll focus on one: immersing myself in the history of the PRC for the purposes of writing a family memoir. What I learned is just how deeply my family has been traumatized by their experiences under Mao.
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Big announcement: my sister @tianna_wang, an extraordinary human-rights advocate, is joining @NorthRiverLaw today!
Among other things, she's going to help grow our China and human rights-related litigation practice
More here: northriverlaw.com/blog/towar…
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...he'd never been imprisoned himself.
Allegedly citing that observation, Luo Gan is said to have declared in a meeting about my father's fate: "So, Wang Bingzhang wants to spend time in prison? Let's give him what he wants!"
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20 years ago, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion concluding that the PRC's detention of my father Wang Bingzhang (on charges of plotting to bomb the PRC embassy in Bangkok and spying for Taiwan) violated many international human rights standards.
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The difference is that political motivation was a viable defense for Meng in her extradition proceedings (& would've been even if she'd been extradited)
Not so for the two Michaels, given that in the PRC, political motivated prosecutions are a *feature, not a bug* 👇
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And the UW did produce some.
Take a look for yourself here:
scribd.com/document/58073853…
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As someone who'd like to one day see a free & democratic China, I worry more about American elites who'd do nearly anything to get PRC-related profits/access than I do about CCP spies. The former are a much more pernicious force if you really care about democratic ideals.
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This is why when ppl argue there's no way they could imprison that many people in XJ without more info leaking out (despute, ofc, a lotta info having already leaked) my thought is... yes, yes they can.
Say what you will about the CCP but they are operationally very skilled.
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The CCP has banned a former Xinhua journalist's landmark books on the GLF and the CR.
Of the two museums about the CR, the CCP has shuttered the non-state-sanctioned one.
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If my neighbor is abusing their wife & children, I can only speak out if perfect justice prevails in my household AND no one in my past ever did a bad thing?
If you don't want to speak out about ur neighbor's abuse bc u have a business relationship just fucking say so, coward.
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