Looking back on the persecution experienced by three generations of his family since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power, Liu Donghui, who moved from Fuzhou to Los Angeles, summarized the CCP’s actions as deception, robbery, and surveillance. He said, “The CCP is a malignant tumor.”
Liu Donghui, a graduate of Beihang University in Beijing, was studying in Beijing during the events of June Fourth, 1989. His grandfather owned a noodle factory in downtown Fuzhou before the CCP took power. The products were of high quality and exported to Southeast Asia. His family resided in the well-known historic and cultural area in Fuzhou called Gexia Dayuan, where Liu Donghui spent many of his childhood years. His father was a graduate of Xiamen University. In a normal society, this family, through inheritance, should have lived a life that many would envy. However, under CCP rule, three generations have suffered from property losses and emotional trauma brought by communist tyranny.
Liu Donghui’s grandfather was skilled in business and hardworking. Before 1949, his noodle factory in Fuzhou had a good reputation locally. They imported high-quality flour from Canada, and the noodles produced were called Long Xu Mian by outsiders. “Inside the noodles, there was chicken soup and eggs, which were considered high-end snacks. If a sick person had a bite, they would feel half recovered. The noodle factory was located in the heart of present-day Fuzhou. After the CCP seized power, they implemented public-private partnerships, and his grandfather lost everything he had.
His family had several properties rented out locally. One of them, surrounded by two stories with a large courtyard in the middle, was required by the CCP in 1958 to hand over the rented properties to the government for unified management and rent collection, symbolically returning only a small portion to the property owner. Half of his family’s properties were forcibly “managed for leasing.” By the 1980s, the CCP issued internal regulations to transfer these “rented properties” to state ownership.
“That house with a courtyard was over a hundred years old, and in 2007 it was demolished and rebuilt by the CCP.” Liu Donghui still feels very regretful. As he grew up, he noticed that the traditional Chinese architecture was sturdy and beautifully crafted, but each piece was dismantled.
The experiences of his grandfather’s family were similar. His grandfather was from the Manchu ethnic group, and his grandmother had lived in Gexia Dayuan from a young age. The courtyard had several layers and now belonged to the historic and cultural area of “Sanfang Qixiang” in Fuzhou. His grandfather’s family owned several properties here. The courtyard he visited in his childhood had a study, wing rooms, courtyard, and a well. This place carried his happy childhood memories, but these properties were targeted by the CCP.
One year, the study caught fire for unknown reasons. His grandfather, who had many children, wanted to rebuild on the same site, but the CCP did not allow it, claiming the land belonged to the government. His grandfather’s family resisted, unwilling to give up the land. However, the CCP seized the land, and employee dormitories were built by the Fuzhou Cultural Bureau.
In 2004, the CCP authorities in Fuzhou planned to demolish and rebuild all the houses in “Sanfang Qixiang” under the pretext of renovation. Some old houses had already been barbarically demolished. “Houses that had been around for over 800 years were all torn down, which was very heartbreaking.” Liu Donghui said. Some elderly residents refused to move. The CCP sent a large number of “security personnel” to Sanfang Qixiang, using various means such as cutting off water and electricity and padlocking doors to pressure them. Even Liu Donghui was unable to visit his relatives at that time. To this day, some relatives are still holding onto the houses passed down from their ancestors.
By the time of Liu Donghui’s father, they carried a heavy burden in life.
Liu Donghui’s father entered Xiamen University in 1948, and by the time he graduated in 1952, the political power had changed, and society underwent tremendous changes. He was never given a chance to return home; instead, he was directly sent to Shenyang in Northeast China to work in one of the core factories of Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing Plant – the Liaoning Machinery Factory, specializing in aircraft engine production.
His father spent over a decade in the factory but could never adjust to the work environment and culture there. What he found intolerable was during the Great Leap Forward in 1958 when the factory consistently fabricated false production numbers and quality. He wanted to return to his hometown in Fuzhou but was not allowed. Eventually, he found a way by writing a letter stating that his father ran a workshop, making him part of a politically untrustworthy class. His request was quickly approved, but in subsequent political movements, he faced difficulties and was never trusted.
“When I was at home as a child, I saw my father always listening to shortwave radios.” Liu Donghui said. The transmissions would sometimes become unclear, and his father would adjust it back and forth. One day, his father said he wanted to learn English and then, with a book of “Nine Hundred English Sentences,” learned daily. His father told Liu Donghui, “This regime is actually terrible. Everything they say in the newspapers and what they say cannot be trusted.”
When Liu Donghui was in his second year of university, he personally witnessed the events of June Fourth. At that time, he attended gatherings at Tiananmen Square many times. On the night of June 3, he and some classmates went for drinks and dinner, with most of them returning to the dormitory to sleep after drinking, except for one classmate who went to Tiananmen Square. Around 4 or 5 a.m., that classmate fled back and shouted in the dormitory corridor: “They are killing people!”
In the following days, students started leaving the campus to return to their hometowns. Liu Donghui and his classmates boarded a train back to Fuzhou. After a period, most of the classmates began preparing for the TOEFL exam, hoping to leave China.
After graduating from university in 1990, Liu Donghui was assigned to work at a state-owned enterprise, specializing in import and export trade. Like his father, he was reluctant to join the Communist Party. When he saw injustices, he would speak out, but after two “tea-drinking” sessions, he became thoroughly disappointed with the regime.
The first incident involved a “landscape renovation” project in downtown Fuzhou. Near his office, a resident stood up against forced demolition and was beaten by the government’s black-clothed personnel. Unable to stand by, Liu Donghui told the resident to resist. That evening, the police took him to the police station and warned him not to interfere with the government’s demolition operations.
The second incident occurred in 2018 when the CCP leader campaigned for re-election, and some people displayed banners in the square pleading for Xi Jinping’s re-election. Liu Donghui commented in a small WeChat group, “The lifetime system has already been implemented. Talking about this is redundant, isn’t it?” Later that night, state security officials forced him to the police station and printed out his comments, warning him not to speak out again. They said similar statements were plentiful, and they were busy all day finding people to have “tea-drinking” sessions with.
“My small group was monitored.” Liu Donghui said, feeling at that time that he could no longer stay in the country: “My personality definitely requires speaking up, so the moment I speak up, trouble arises.”
After coming to the United States in February 2022, Liu Donghui had the chance to reevaluate the CCP. His family has long suffered persecution under CCP rule, impacting the physical and mental health of his parents – both who passed away from cancer before the age of 60, much earlier than their siblings.
“In conclusion, the CCP is a regime that continuously relies on lies and uses force to seize others’ assets.” Liu Donghui said, “When they reach a dead end, they start lying again.”
What kind of people does the CCP attract? “It’s a group of individuals with ill intentions, attempting to be ‘superior’ and subjugate others.” He said, “I believe this is a malignant tumor.” ◇