Apr 07, 2005

The Epoch Times' Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party triggered a wave of resignations that has now grown to one in a hundred party members. (AFP/Getty/Epoch Times)

The number of people who have announced their withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the Epoch Times website has exceeded 700,000 as of Wednesday, April 6.

The average number of withdrawals from both the Communist Party and the Youth League is 15,000 to 20,000 per day. Due to the strict intensified Internet blockade in China, the number of people who can declare their withdrawals online is restricted. Nevertheless, the number indicates the rapid spread among Chinese people of news about the withdrawals and the book behind the movement, the Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party, published by the Epoch Times in November.

The CCP has upgraded its techniques in blocking Internet access. According to Clearwisdom.net, a website maintained on behalf of Falun Gong, a police official in China who is in charge of monitoring Internet activities has provided information regarding a recent meeting between a provincial public security department and Internet police. This urgent meeting delivered three requests, one of which was to examine all e-mail addresses. All e-mail in overseas correspondence is to be examined. The authorities were installing software to screen all messages at the time the report was made.

Chinese authorities have also recently set extremely stringent restrictions for Internet users, Internet cafes and websites. For example, Internet cafes are now required to take down user information and fingerprints before allowing them to access the Internet.

Ironically, many Internet police who have read the Nine Commentaries and understand the truth of the party's persecution of Falun Gong said they took the job only because they needed to support their families. "If every Chinese had a DVD of the Nine Commentaries, we wouldn't have to do this against our wills. The CCP would not be ruling China then," one police officer said.

Another said: "After reading the Nine Commentaries, I realized what I did [under orders from the CCP] was all unethical. Now I work against the CCP in my spare time. I pass the Nine Commentaries to many people, whether I know them or not."

Another of the two requests in the urgent Internet police meeting, according to the police officer, was: "Zeng Qinghong ordered the meticulous investigation of the people in the culture, literature and art circles who have correspondence overseas," to find a group of writers--from the central government to every province, city, and district-- to write articles criticizing and slandering Falun Gong in order to provoke hatred against the practice.

According to an analyst, the CCP is attacking Falun Gong to distract the public's attention and to relieve the tremendous pressure of the Nine Commentaries and the wave of withdrawals.

Recently, the Party and League emblems, which had not been seen for more than a decade, reappeared in many places in China. Party members were asked to wear the emblems to work. This is part of the CCP's effort to "preserve the CCP members' nature." The reporter interviewed several ground workers and staff at the Shenzhen Airport and asked whether they thought it was ironic that history had moved backward and that the notorious methods of the Cultural Revolution had reappeared. Those who answered said they had to wear the emblems because they were ordered to.

In the past few days, the [Communist Party] Withdrawal Service Centers around the world have received anonymous harassing calls, and the daily operation of the centers experienced severe interference. Service centers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Israel, the U.S. headquarters and San Diego confirmed the receipt of harassing calls.

Mr. Li from the San Diego center said that the office received the first harassing call at 6:22 p.m. on April 4. It was a voice recording of a Chinese woman reading an English script. The content was a distortion of Falun Gong and slandered its founder. At 7:22 p.m., a second call was received. It was the same female voice, reading the same content, but in Chinese. At 11:30 p.m., the center received a third call in voice mail.

Click here to read the original article in Chinese

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-4-7/27684.html