From John Leighton Stuart to Mike Pompeo, the Chinese Communist Party Attacks Whoever Reveals Its True Colors

(Minghui.org) In early May, Chinese state media attacked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling his remarks on the origin of the coronavirus “insane and evasive.”

The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), devoted entire editorials vituperating Pompeo for his criticism of Beijing. China's state broadcaster CCTV called Pompeo a “public enemy” in one of its commentary segments. The Xinhua state news agency denounced him as “one of the worst secretaries of state in American history.”

Pompeo was not the first American politician to be publicly condemned by the CCP. John Leighton Stuart served as the ambassador to Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government of China in 1946. When the Communist Party seized power in 1949, Mao Zedong published a monograph on the front page of the People's Daily titled “Farewell, Leighton Stuart,” in which he called Stuart an aggressor of the U.S. imperialists and the enemy of China.

But the truth was just the opposite.

Stuart: “Communism is a System of Demons”

John Leighton Stuart was born in 1876 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in China. His parents were missionaries. Stuart returned to the U.S. at age 11 to complete his education. He attended New York Concord Theological Seminary and returned to China in 1904 as a missionary. He lived in China for 50 years. He once said there was more Chinese substance than American elements in his blood.

Stuart taught at Yuying College and Zhejiang School. He founded the famous Yanjing University and served as its first president. He was fluent in Chinese and had a deep understanding of Chinese culture. He said in his memoirs, “The core of Chinese traditional literature points out the harmony between human beings and the cosmic moral order. In addition to deepening my respect for Chinese culture, reading in the long term also cultivates my character and makes my belief in God more solid.”

Due to his Christian background, Stuart had a clearer understanding of communism better than most people of his time. “Communism is a system of demons that denies the existence of God and denies that people have souls. They declare that everything is material, and all actions are materialistic. They force all human beings to accept them and use force and deception to achieve their goals. Communism is to devour everything to achieve its own survival. Its desire is never satisfied. Neither kindness nor warmth can change its attitude. For this demon disturbs the world, we must do our best to stop it,” he wrote.

He warned that American policy toward China should be based on the U.S.' founding principles and should not be influenced by hypocritical promises and economic interests. For that reason, he was labeled by the CCP as an enemy of Chinese people.

The CCP Incites Hatred to Achieve Its Goals

For the CCP, the purpose of chastising someone is not so much about criticizing the accused's position or opinion, but to provoke anger and incite hatred. It is not to make people understand the mistakes or absurdities of the accused, but to make people obey the Communist Party. To show loyalty to the CCP, one must follow its lead and lash out at whoever it targets.

Historically, the CCP smeared intellectuals, landowners, foreigners, religious leaders, and others. Chinese people were forced to condemn those who were labeled enemies of the Communist Party.

For example, during the persecution of Falun Gong, police officers forced practitioners to curse Falun Gong and its founder. Those who refused were imprisoned. The authorities can arbitrarily extend their prison terms if they refuse to curse at and renounce Falun Gong. In brainwashing centers, practitioners are forced to use profanity to show that they had met the requirements of renouncing Falun Gong.

Recognizing the True Colors of the CCP

In its attacks against Pompeo in early May, CCTV accused him of four crimes and of falling below the baseline of humanity. He was labeled the “common enemy of mankind.”

According to a report by RFI, “Pompeo might have been the first U.S. Secretary of State to be attacked in the 'Cultural Revolution Style' since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.” Some analysts believe that this is because Pompeo took a hard line against China and did not hesitate to expose Beijing for hiding the truth about the coronavirus.

In an interview with Fox News on April 29, Pompeo said, “The Chinese Communist Party now has a responsibility to tell the world how this pandemic got out of China and all across the world, causing such global economic devastation.” He accused the CCP of using “classic misinformation” to cover up the truth.

Speaking on the ABC program “This Week” on May 3, Pompeo said, “We’ve seen the fact that they kicked the journalists out,” referring to orders that American correspondents from The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal leave China. “We saw the fact that those who were trying to report on this, medical professionals inside of China, were silenced. They shut down reporting — all the kind of things that authoritarian regimes do, the way Communist parties operate.”

Can the CCP Evade Responsibility?

In the 70 years after Mao Zedong wrote “Farewell, Leighton Stuart,” over 80 million Chinese people have died unnatural deaths under communist rule. The CCP has never admitted its own wrongdoings. Instead, it has always insisted on its “greatness” against its assumed enemies.

When most of China was still under lockdown due to the pandemic, the CCP published a book titled The Great War on the Pandemic in February 2020. The two-million-word book praises the CCP and its leader for the strategic vision and excellent leadership in the fight against the pandemic.

With growing calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, Xinhua published a short animation titled “Once Upon a Virus” mocking the U.S. response to the pandemic.

The Chinese government is also taking an increasingly harsh stance toward any criticism from other countries by adopting “wolf-warrior diplomacy.” A recent article by Voice of America stated, “While many countries in the world intend to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable and seek compensation for concealing the truth about the spread of the coronavirus in China which led to the global pandemic, the CCP state media have been engaged in smear campaigns in recent weeks.”

Undoubtedly, Mike Pompeo is one of the targets.

Some analysts have compared the loss of lives, chaos, and devastation to the global economy caused by COVID-19 to the equivalent of another world war. Many countries have launched investigations into the CCP's role in covering up the spread of the virus. Can the CCP evade its responsibility this time?