October 1, 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the CCP’s rule. At 4:00 pm Berlin time, the sky remained overcast after a recent rain. Representatives of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, German human rights organizations, and CAG Christians rallied at Jannowitz Bridge, near the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, to protest the CCP’s tyranny and support people of all nationalities and from all walks of life persecuted by the regime.
Various Groups spoke out to Condemn CCP’s Atrocities
At the rally, representatives from various groups spoke out, detailing the CCP’s numerous atrocities against Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, and CAG Christians. They condemned the CCP’s authoritarian regime for its blatant violations of human rights and freedoms. Haiyuer Kuerban, director of the Berlin Office of the World Uyghur Congress, highlighted in his speech: “Since 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping personally launched the internment camp policy. At least 1.8 to 3 million innocent Uyghurs have been forcibly detained in over 1,400 camps，where they undergo trials, forced indoctrination, forced sterilization of women, and separation of children from families.”
Chen Zhuo (pseudonym), a CAG member, also mentioned in his speech, “Despite the serious pandemic, recurring disasters, and widespread suffering among the people, the CCP still prioritized cracking down on The Church of Almighty God, declaring its goal to completely eradicate the church. The number of arrests and convictions continued to rise during the pandemic. In 2023, on just one day, June 15, 1,043 Christians from our church in Zhejiang Province were arrested; over 2,000 were sentenced throughout the year, with maximum sentence reaching 12 years and six months. By early 2024, it was confirmed that 260 members had died from the CCP’s persecution.”
“You can point a gun at people’s heads. You can kill someone’s brain. You cannot kill the ideas within. You cannot kill the faith and the hope within.” Amy Siu, a representative of the Hong Kong Liberty Association, stated in an interview.
“Just Go in Peace. As Long As Our Daughter is Safe and Alive Overseas, That’s Enough for Us.”
An Fen (pseudonym), a CAG member, who has been persecuted by the CCP, fled China in 2015. To protect her family, she has refrained from contacting them all these years.
It wasn’t until 2019, when she received a letter from her mother delivered by a fellow villager, that she learned both her parents had fallen ill at the same time in 2018. Her mother suffered a heart attack but survived after emergency treatment, while her father was diagnosed with cancer, became Persistent vegetative state after surgery and passed away at the end of that year.
At her father’s cremation, her mother said to her father, “Just go in peace. As long as our daughter is safe and alive overseas, that’s enough for us.” These words pierced An Fen’s heart. She shared with us, “I am the only daughter of my parents. My father worked tirelessly to raise me, but in his final days, I could not do anything for him, and I didn’t even know what was happening. Now my mother is getting old and her health is also very poor. I really want to be by her side during her final years, to be with her, but I know all of this is impossible. Because of the CCP’s tyranny, such a reunion is only a distant dream for me.”
No Human Rights, No Freedom Until the CCP Falls
At the rally, protests held signs reading, “Faith Is No Crime,” “I Want Freedom,” and “Say No to Tyranny.” The prop symbolizing the CCP’s surveillance cameras was eye-catching, with a banner reading “CHINA: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!”
“In democratic countries, gathering for worship and spreading the gospel are legal, protected by law. But under the CCP, you’re criminalized and suppressed for your faith. They track and arrest you everywhere, install surveillance cameras everywhere, and various trackers and hidden cameras are also deployed. They even mobilize the public with rewards to report believers,” shared Xiao Xi (pseudonym), a CAG Christian at the rally. She concluded, “No human rights, no Freedom until the CCP falls.”
Transnational Repression: No Freedom, Even After Fleeing
Transnational repression was another prominent topic at the rally. Dundup Donka from the Association of Tibetans in Germany remarked, “The Chinese government has its hands everywhere, not just in China itself, but also abroad, in Europe, in America, everywhere, they have their fingers in.”
Tenzyn Zöchbauer, Executive Director of the Tibet Initiative Deutschland e.V., remarked, “We have been repeatedly photographed today by the Chinese embassy staff. We can all assume that the photos taken here are being used to identify who we are and to find ways to intimidate us in the future and silence our voices.”
“The German government must apply pressure on China to halt human rights abuses both in China and within Germany.” urged David Missal, spokesperson for the Tibet Initiative Deutschland e.V., during his speech.
On the same day, rallies protesting the CCP’s totalitarianism were held in multiple cities across Canada and the United States, where participants said “no” to the CCP’s totalitarianism by chanting, “No National Day, Only National Sorrow!” and “End the CCP, Restore Freedom to China!”
