(Clearwisdom.net) When the academic year began in 2009, the president of a university in mainland China called for a meeting with top departmental and administrative heads. They talked about stability as the most important goal for the school year ahead, and the participants were eager to share their thoughts. Below are excerpts from the discussion:

"We definitely should not repeat historical mistakes."

"Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came into power, it launched the 1957 Anti-Rightist Movement, the 1966 Culture Revolution and other numerous political movements. Every movement resulted in many talented Chinese being persecuted and our school has lost many of them. This is particularly true with the persecution in 1999 that targeted people who practice Falun Gong. Besides losing many talented people, it also caused many classes to close. The loss was heavy. These are profound lessons."

"Our school started almost the same time as Beijing University and Qinghua University. If we add all the talented people lost from all the political movements since 1949, the number is equivalent to today's Qinghua's total outstanding talents. We wouldn't know this if we hadn't done the calculation - the results are astonishing. So the question is worth reflection: does the CCP respect talent or does it persecute talent?"

"The statistics are sufficient enough to prove that the history of the CCP's political movements is a history of persecution."

"From history, we can predict the future. Beginning in 2009, we absolutely can't repeat the mistakes made in history. We should properly treat people who practice Falun Gong and those who have different opinions. We should motivate all positive factors so that we can live up to the expectations of all the teachers and students, and we should not lose the respect of history, teachers and students, our conscience, and our future."

Original article date: 2/14/2009.