Last Sunday (March 9th), dozens of human rights activists gathered in San Francisco to protest against the Chinese Communist Party’s dictatorship and advocate for human rights in China. They also held a seminar to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the passing of Mr. Sun Yat-sen.
The timing of the protest coincided with the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing. This year’s meetings in Beijing took place from March 4th to March 11th. The two sessions have long been touted by the Chinese Communist Party as showcasing the “democratic system with Chinese characteristics,” but the Western world has viewed them as rubber-stamp gatherings controlled by Beijing.
The Republic of China was the first republic in Asia. Its founder, Mr. Sun Yat-sen, passed away on March 12, 1925, at the age of 58. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his death.
The protest last Sunday afternoon took place in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, focusing on Xi Jinping’s constitutional amendment to remove term limits for the President of China.
During the National People’s Congress in March 2018, the Chinese Communist Party eliminated the provision that limited the President to two terms in office. This move was widely seen as allowing Xi Jinping the potential for lifelong rule.
The activists participating in the protest trampled on the Chinese Communist Party’s five-starred red flag and raised banners condemning the party’s dictatorial rule, which denies basic rights to the Chinese people and perpetrates atrocities against the Chinese nation.
The host of the event, Zhang Junjie, recalled the revolution led by Sun Yat-sen over a hundred years ago to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and transition to a republic. He began the protest by reading aloud Sun Yat-sen’s “Testament,” emphasizing the need to unite with people worldwide in the struggle for Chinese national revolution.
Fang Zheng, former president of the China Democracy Education Foundation, stated during his speech that the goal of the current protest is clear: to demand Xi Jinping’s resignation, overthrow the Chinese Communist Party, end its dictatorial rule, and ensure true freedom for the Chinese people.
Cui Yunxing, a member of the China Democracy Party, remarked that many Chinese nationals leave their country due to the lack of basic human rights under the Chinese Communist regime. He led slogans advocating against dictatorship and for democracy, the overthrow of the Communist Party, and the trial of Xi Jinping.
Huang Xiaomin, Deputy Head of the San Francisco branch of the China Democracy Party, expressed the urgent need to confront the most evil, corrupt, and brutal regime in human history, the Chinese Communist Party. She highlighted the plight of persecuted Uyghur women and called for international attention to their suffering.
The afternoon also saw a memorial event for Sun Yat-sen’s 100th death anniversary at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The event was jointly organized by the China Democracy Education Foundation and the Grand Public Hall of the Hongmen Civic Association.
According to historical records, Sun Yat-sen joined the Hongmen National Safety Council on January 11, 1904, to mobilize Hongmen members for the revolution and transform the organization into a revolutionary force. The membership record of Sun Yat-sen in the council is still preserved in the Honolulu National Safety Council. Sun Yat-sen was given the position of “Hong Gun” upon joining the Hongmen, a senior role responsible for discipline. He was referred to as “Big Brother Hung” by Hongmen members at the time.
The memorial event was presided over by Zhao Bingxian, the leader of the Grand Public Hall of the Hongmen Civic Association. Attendees paid tribute to Sun Yat-sen by singing both the US national anthem and the national anthem of the Republic of China, followed by bowing to Sun Yat-sen’s image and the flags of China and the US as per Hongmen customs.
Zhao Bingxian emphasized that the Xinhai Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen overthrew thousands of years of monarchial rule and established the first republic in Asia – the Republic of China. While the Republic of China reveres Sun Yat-sen as the ‘Father of the Nation,’ the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party only regard him as a ‘forerunner of the revolution’ and distort the history of the Xinhai Revolution.
He further stressed that the Chinese Communist Party claims to be the followers and heirs of Sun Yat-sen, but their Marxist-Leninist ideology and class struggle have no connection to Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People. A century after Sun Yat-sen’s passing, China remains devoid of democratic freedoms under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.
Feng Congde, president of the China Democracy Education Foundation and one of the leaders of the 1989 June 4th student movement, stated that commemorating Sun Yat-sen holds historical significance, practical relevance, and guidance for the future. He pointed out that the Xinhai Revolution was the beginning of China’s democratic revolution, with the subsequent Constitution of the Republic of China built on the foundation of the Three Principles of the People.
Speakers at the commemorative event included Fang Zheng, a director of the China Democracy Education Foundation and former president; Feng Congde, president of the China Democracy Education Foundation; Professor Xie Youtian, a renowned historian and author of “Sun Yat-sen’s Late Struggles and Tenacity”; Dr. Ding Yi, a constitutional scholar and author of “On Republican Constitution”; Dr. Ren Songlin, a prominent overseas democracy activist; and Huang Rui, a member of the Northern California branch of the Kuomintang. From their diverse perspectives, they all rebuked the Chinese Communist Party’s lies about Sun Yat-sen and exposed the party’s dictatorial suppression of freedom and democracy.