In recent years, there have been many Chinese elites who have crossed the border between the US and Mexico. These individuals, successful in their respective fields with lucrative incomes and enviable social status in China, ultimately made the bold decision to leave their homeland. One such individual is Zhou Yunlong, a former key teacher at the Chongqing Foreign Languages School.
Zhou Yunlong graduated from Southwest Normal University (now Southwest University) with a major in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics in 2003. He later worked at the Jiangjin Middle School, a key school in Chongqing, where he was recognized as a high-level and key teacher. Representing Jiangjin Middle School, he participated in teaching competitions at both the city and national levels, consistently winning first prizes. Due to his outstanding teaching abilities, he was recommended to join the Chongqing Foreign Languages School, one of the first seven foreign language schools established in China, with 20% of its graduating class being directly admitted to the country’s top universities.
Why did he choose to leave China? During an interview with Epoch Times on August 6th, Zhou Yunlong reflected on the conversation that changed the course of his life before he resigned.
On March 7th this year, the principal of the Chongqing Foreign Languages School, two vice principals (one of whom was also the deputy director of the local Jiulongyuan Police Station), a director, and a party branch secretary summoned Zhou Yunlong to the office for a formal discussion, with a designated person recording the conversation. Although it was his first experience with such a situation, he remained composed as he had heard many stories about similar situations of being “invited for tea” from his social circle.
He suspected this incident might be related to his discussion with a group of students about the “Blank Paper Movement”—a grassroots movement mainly led by young students against the “Zero-COVID” policy towards the end of 2022. This movement pressured the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to retract its extreme pandemic prevention measures but also led to retaliation against the participants, with many of them being arrested.
Whether it was a student report or the school’s internal monitoring cameras that exposed the conversation, Zhou Yunlong was uncertain. Nevertheless, with a clear tone of threat, the principal told him, “In the future, either keep quiet or leave here.” The seriousness of the conversation indicated that the school considered the matter severe. However, recognizing Zhou Yunlong’s excellence as a teacher and his status as a professional talent recruited by the school, the principal might have hesitated to take immediate action, waiting to assess Zhou Yunlong’s attitude before making a decision about his future at the school.
“If you bring up this matter again, I will confiscate your passport, dismiss you, or hand you over to the police. At that time, I won’t be the one to discuss this with you,” the principal said.
Upon hearing about the possibility of his passport being confiscated, Zhou Yunlong became immediately anxious. Losing his passport would mean he couldn’t leave the country. He strongly opposed China’s political indoctrination education and didn’t want his children to become “pinkies,” desiring to provide them with a normal education abroad to grow up as normal individuals.
According to his understanding, another teacher at the school had posted comments on a WeChat group during the CCP’s constitutional amendments in 2018 and was later called for a “tea session” by the police, ultimately being forced to resign from the school.
The next day after the conversation, Zhou Yunlong submitted his resignation letter, preventing the school from confiscating his passport. However, he realized that the vice principal he had conversed with, who also served as the deputy director of the police station, still had the authority to confiscate his passport directly. “If he came to take my passport, I would have no way out. So, I immediately decided: don’t waste time, leave quickly!”
There was no time to go to the consulate for a visa. He, along with his wife and children, flew directly from Japan to Mexico before crossing the border to reach the United States.
Looking back, Zhou Yunlong admitted that before joining the Chongqing Foreign Languages School, he was largely ignorant and seldom discussed politics. He had focused most of his energy on teaching and research, and in 2007, he even joined the Communist Party organization because his colleagues told him it would provide better career opportunities.
During a visit to his hometown, he mentioned his Party membership to his grandmother, who did not seem pleased and instead recounted a family tragedy. His grandfather, a laborer before the CCP came to power, had bought land through hard work. However, after the CCP took control, he was classified as a wealthy farmer during the “class categorization” and during the 1959 Great Famine, their family’s food was confiscated first, leading to the starvation deaths of his grandfather, his uncle, and aunt.
Listening to his grandmother’s detailed family history, Zhou Yunlong was shocked and formed a resentful feeling towards the CCP. It was during his time at the Chongqing Foreign Languages School that he learned about the electoral systems in other countries, sparking his curiosity to search for information online. He later encountered a small group on social media jokingly referred to as the “traitor circle,” where they regularly discussed political topics and he learned about circumventing internet censorship and accessing a world of authentic information.
Recalling a pivotal moment after watching the film “Django Unchained,” he was deeply moved by a line from the character Django: “I’ve seen a lot of the world outside, and I can’t be a slave anymore.” This resonated deeply with him, leading to his decision to pursue freedom and democracy.
With his evolving perspectives, Zhou Yunlong began to regret his past decision to join the Communist Party. “It was incredibly foolish. As a math enthusiast and a critical thinker, what made me fall for it?” Reflecting on his upbringing and learning experiences, he realized that his thinking had been systematically misled.
“The CCP never shows us how political systems in countries like America or Japan operate; even if they do, they present it as something sinister,” Zhou Yunlong remarked. “What’s being propagated daily in the country? Vanguard of the working class, serving the people, People’s Hospital, People’s Police, People’s Court… If you don’t see the darkness behind them, you could easily be blinded, believing that the entire country is here to serve you and that you are meant to carry on their legacy!”
As his mindset shifted, Zhou Yunlong began integrating real historical narratives in his teaching to inspire students. Encouraged by the Peng Lifat incident in November 2022, he showed his students a video of the “Four Link Bridge Warriors” hanging banners, leaving them in awe.
“I know they will never forget that moment,” Zhou Yunlong recalled. Thankfully, as he had a long-standing relationship with these students, none of them reported him. However, after giving an introduction on Peng Lifat, the Blank Paper Movement, and the extreme “Zero-COVID” policy being lifted to a new class, he was summoned by the school a few days later.
“Staying in such an oppressive and evil environment is the ultimate ‘punishment,'” Zhou Yunlong expressed, “After seeing the world outside, you can’t possibly compromise and collaborate with them (CCP).”
Upon arriving in the United States, he officially declared his withdrawal from the Party on the Epoch Times website to completely cut ties with the evil entity. Despite giving up a job with an annual salary of over 300,000 yuan, does he regret it? “I have never regretted it; money is important, but freedom is more crucial,” he emphasized.
“My greatest dream is to be a healthy, happy, and free individual in a free country,” Zhou Yunlong stated, “Coming to this land of freedom is the best gift I can offer my family.” ◇