The CCP’s Brutality and Lies: 165 Chinese Air Force Officers and Their 3,630-Year Detention Terms

(Minghui.org) Recently the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled media have been fawning over the Party as “a man of his word.” But, is it?

One netizen questioned, “For all the things that the CCP has promised to the Chinese people: land, democratic election, human rights, rule of law, freedom of religion, etc., which one has it delivered? [If fact, none.] Instead, mutilation, suppression, and robbery are the norm.”

One of the best examples that illustrates how the CCP “honored its promise” was the anti-Rightist movement in the 1950s. Mao Zedong, then head of the CCP, initially launched the campaign by soliciting criticisms of the CCP. “If you see (problems), please speak out; if you speak out, please say whatever you want and there would be no consequences.” Moved by such “humble” and “sincere” attitude of the CCP, many people began to offer opinions, thinking that they would be helping the Party if they did.

As soon as these remarks were made, however, Mao and the CCP turned around and labeled these people as “Rightists,” followed by denunciation and persecution. Mao called his invitation for criticism as “luring the ‘snakes’ out of their holes.”

The CCP created these “enemies” in every field, even in the military. Let’s look at what had happened in the Air Force.

The Number One Rightist in the Air Force

Following Mao, then Air Force Commander Liu Yalou asked Party cadres to take the lead posting criticisms to the Air Force leadership. The Political Team of the People’s Air Force Magazine was moved by Liu’s words and posted a mild criticism on a bulletin board. Li Ling, head of the Political Team signed his name.

Three days later, however, the Air Force leadership launched a campaign against Li, calling him the number one Rightist of the Air Force.

They locked Li in an abandoned bathroom, with sealed windows. They also stationed guards outside.

They organized a denouncing meeting that lasted for six days, with 2,000 Air Force staffers attending. They took out the old papers that Li wrote before, which were once used as evidence of his exceptional work in the Air Force, and used the same exact documents as evidence of Li’s “counter-revolution” crime.

They sent Li to a forced labor camp in a rural area in the northeast to farm. He had to work 16 hours a day while receiving only 20 pounds of food every month. Li was ordered to write thought reports, and monitor and rat out cellmates. 

Li made a few suicide attempts but failed. He was later sent to a Beijing suburb to raise pigs in 1963. Then he was denounced again during the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976). He was “redressed” in 1979.

The Pilot Who Cost 147 Pounds of Gold to Train

Similar to Li, many other officials also met the same fate. Wang Qingkai, a college graduate who became an Air Force pilot, was labeled a rightist after making a statement that the peasants’ life was hard. He was put in a forced labor camp, where he hanged himself, unable to tolerate endless torture.

But the CCP authority immediately organized a “before and after” exhibition to slander Wang. They displayed some broken baskets, bowls, and jars on one side and Wang’s Enicar watch, silk bedding, and tweed casual clothes. 

They told people that, “Wang used to beg for food with his mother. It was the CCP that trained him as a pilot, with a total cost worth 147 pounds of gold... However, he has forgotten his past and lived a corrupted life of the bourgeoisie. Instead of correcting his wrongdoings, he chose to hang himself to threaten the Party and conduct self-destruction in front of the people.” 

Nobody knew how the CCP calculated the “147 pounds of gold.” But that was not important to the CCP. What was important was that the CCP needed a number to signify Wang’s crime to mislead people.

The 165 Rightists in the Air Force

Besides Li and Wang, 165 Air Force officers were labeled rightists. This included political officers, pilot teachers, pilots, engineers, and others. About a third of them had fought for the CCP during China’s Civil War or the Korean War.

With no military trial, the CCP issued guilty verdicts against them in April 1958, discharging them from the military and the Party. After designating them as “rightists,” it lowered their ranks by 2 to 5 levels and sent them to long-term forced labor camps. 

It was not until 1980 that the CCP “redressed” their cases. It remained unclear how many of them had been killed or had died of hunger during those 22 years. If all of the 165 officers managed to survive the 22 years, they would have been detained for a total of 3,630 years. 

Similar to these 165 officers in the Air Force, the total tragedies and waste of life for all Chinese people wrongfully targeted by the CCP is countless.

One of the 165 victims was pilot candidate Wang Yulin. Wang said, “The so-called People’s Republic of China is actually a one-party, one-man dictatorship ‘Republic.’ In this ‘Republic,’ telling the truth brings one trouble, while telling lies leads to promotion. Hence everyone tells lies; nobody dares not to! Not telling lies will not only block you from getting rich or promotion but also lead you to prisons or forced labor camps.”

People Regret Listening to the CCP

Mao published an editorial article to explain his “luring the snakes out of their holes” strategy in the anti-Rightist campaign: “Some people said our letting people speak out is a secret conspiracy. We say it is an open conspiracy... You have to lure the tiger off its mountain lair before you can destroy them.”

Zhang Bojun, a “Big Rightist” that the CCP labeled, sighed after reading Mao’s remarks, “I was cheated big this time.” 

Fu Dongju is the daughter of General Fu Zuoyi, a Kuomintang’s commander for the Beijing Battle during China’s civil war between the Kuomintang and the CCP. Fu Dongju joined the CCP and was told it was for the people’s interest to help the CCP to defeat her father. She stole military information and also betrayed her father on behalf of the CCP. In the end, her father rebelled against the Kuomintang and handed Beijing to the CCP without a fight.

However, the CCP never truly accepted Fu Dongju despite her major contribution to it. She was repeatedly denounced during the Cultural Revolution. She didn’t have a place to live and couldn’t afford caregiver fees when she was old.

In her late years, Fu Dongju wanted to write a biography of her father but realized that she didn’t really know her father enough to write one. She said as time passed by, she gradually could understand why her father fought against the CCP initially. But it was too late. 

The Cheating and Persecution Still Happen Today

Although the above-mentioned stories have become history, knowing them is critical to our understanding of the true colors of the CCP. 

For example, the CCP promised the world in 1997 that the “one country, two systems” framework in Hong Kong would not change for 50 years. But twenty years later, the CCP completely broke its promise and claimed the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong was out of date. It is working on turning Hong Kong into a city fully under the CCP’s rule.

In 1982, the CCP promised the “Three No’s” policy on qigong systems and supernatural phenomenon: “No attacking, no debating, and no reporting.” But this later turned out to be a lie, too.

Falun Dafa, a mind-body practice also known as Falun Gong, was introduced to the public in China in 1992. It quickly attracted 100 million learners within seven years, due to its profound principles and miraculous healing powers.

Then CCP head Jiang Zemin, out of his jealousy of Falun Gong’s popularity, ordered newspapers, magazines, and TV to slander the practice, openly violating its “Three No’s” policy. 

Jiang and his followers started the persecution campaign targeting Falun Gong in July 1999. 

Mr. Yu Changxin, a professor at the Air Force Command College, is a retired military officer of deputy Army Commander rank. He was a first-generation Air Force pilot who flew for more than 30 years and the chief editor of an advanced Air Force teaching textbook. His research resulted in greatly reduced flight accidents for the Air Force. He and his wife started practicing Falun Gong in June 1992 and soon saw their health improved and character elevated.

For such an Air Force hero, Jiang ordered to form an over 20-member team to work on Mr. Yu’s case. They detained him and tried deceiving and threatening him, along with sleep deprivation. 

The CCP sentenced Mr. Yu to 17 years in prison in January 2000. Some high-ranking military officers were shocked and asked the CCP authorities to be lenient to then near 80-year-old Mr. Yu. But the CCP wouldn’t listen to them. It drove Mr. Yu’s wife out of their house in the Air Force Command College and sealed their door. The over 70-year-old woman didn’t have a place to stay.

Ex-pilot Mr. Liu Ping was persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. He was tortured in a forced labor camp in Tianjin. He died in the camp around the New Year of 2002. His whole body festered with blood, flesh, and pus, and his clothes stuck to him. To hide their crimes, the forced labor camp got a hospital to issue a certificate declaring that Liu died in the hospital.

Thus, the CCP’s persecution, starting with a false promise of no persecution, continues today.

One netizen posted:“You may call the CCP a rogue, but a rogue is more civilized than it;you may call it a bandit, but a bandit is better at honoring promises than it;you may call it a gangster, but a gangster is better at following rules than it;you may call it a killer, but its ruthless nature would leave many killers in awe; you may call it a lowlife, but a lowlife has more sense of shame than it:The CCP is an evil demon and rotten spirit that is dedicated to wrecking China and the Chinese people, endangering the world and mankind.”