Speech by Zhang Tianliang, on the Nine Commentaries Forum in Celebration of its One-Year Anniversary, Washington D.C. November 19, 2005-

We are gathered today to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the publication of The Epoch Times editorial series, Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party . When we first introduced the Nine Commentaries to the public, the general consensus among our readers was that this series candidly expose the underlying ideological sphere of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, no one could have forseen that the Nine Commentaries would have such a rapid and powerful influence on Chinese society. To date, 5.7 million people have already resigned from the CCP through the Epoch Times Tuidang (Quit the CCP) website.

Many had been dissatisfied with the Chinese people and had held a rather pessimistic view of China's future. Yet the Nine Commentaries brings to light the wisdom of the Chinese people; the surge of resignations from the CCP denotes the conscience and dignity of the Chinese people. There is still hope for China. Therefore, we are not merely commemorating the publication of the Nine Commentaries but also celebrating China's progress into the new era. My main topic today is the Nine Commentaries opens up the China's journey to peaceful reform.

The collapse of the evil political power of the CCP could have happened via two routes. One is from the top to the bottom in which awakened Party leaders who are willing to honor human nature and go against the Party spirit would reflect on what was happening to themselves and initiate the reform and eventually bring about the Party's disintegration. Another way is the bottom-up method, which is the path China is currently taking.......

1. Why has the CCP survived another 16 years after the "June 4" Tiananmen Massacre?

Last century, during the late 80's and the early 90's, the communist governments in Eastern Europe toppled like a row of dominoes. Then in August of 1991, the Communist Soviet Union also crumbled. This great wave stopped when it reached China and its spread to Southeast Asia was terminated. Therefore, the communist powers in Asia such as Vietnam, North Korea and China were spared. The collapse of the communist parties in Eastern Europe was closely associated with the new thinking and openness proposed by Gorbachev. These countries had been striving continuously for national self-determination, and freedom and democracy so when the Soviet Union no longer suppressed their demands for democracy, the communist political powers in Eastern Europe were unable to hold and eventually collapsed one after the other.

In 1989, the CCP ordered military forces to suppress the democratic movement in Tiananmen Square. Since then, the CCP has been diligently studying the possible reasons for the demise of communist power in Russia and Eastern Europe. They later published several books summarizing the lessons learned from history. These include relinquishing proletariat dictatorship, abandoning class struggle in international relations, constructing a humane and democratic socialist state, absence of political and ideological work, pursing transparency and openness, and letting "bygones be bygones."

In actuality, "Relinquishing proletariat dictatorship" meant renouncing violence; "pursing transparency and openness" signified abandoning one voice in a hall and discarding the use of false propaganda; "getting entangled in historical debts" represented taking responsibility for the historical crimes committed by the CCP; "abandoning class struggle in the international hierarchy" meant accepting the democratic vision promoted in Western society. Therefore, the CCP set out to comprehensively strengthen its violent tactics, expand its armed forces and conduct drills to prevent any "sudden occurrences." Their motto is "Factors of instability have to be nipped in the bud." They intensify the spread of false propaganda, obstruct the Internet and confiscate any newspaper or publication with a different voice than the CCP. They call this, "highlight the themes of the times." They even forbid people to reassess the successive political movements, including the "June 4" Tiananmen Massacre and the persecution of Falun Gong, while simultaneously generating a twisted theory to oppose freedom and democracy.

While studying the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the emergence of the Polish Trade Union caught the CCP's eye. This non-governmental organization later gained political power and replaced the Polish Communist Party. Hence the CCP forbid the establishment of any independent labor union. It has been said that the national broadcast of Pope John Paul II's Mass service in Poland also facilitated the disintegration of the Polish Communist Party. Therefore, besides tightening the control over the official belief in China, the CCP with its great effort also intensified the suppression of all "unofficial" religions or beliefs in China. Furthermore, the CCP also learned from the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic, which originated from the Charter 77 [1] in Czechoslovakia initiated by Czech intellectuals. As a result, the CCP bribes the leading brains in the country to promote communist ideology and persecute those who speak truthfully or refuse to cooperate.

On the surface, to ensure its continued existence, the CCP has designed an infallible plan to prevent all possible shifts in political power. Rather than voluntarily withdrawing from the historical arena, the Party wants to drag the entire nation down into its grave. The CCP expected to change its life in the past and present, but its fate has already decided. Yet the appearance of the Nine Commentaries and the surge of resignations prove the CCP wrong.

2. The Power of the Nine Commentaries

The way a person handles a matter may stem from two considerations. Confucius said, "The superior man is aware of righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage." If a superior man handles a matter, there is enough righteousness. However, an average person will consider the advantages. Therefore, besides being guided by the principle of righteousness, there also must be a warning of consequences. The Nine Commentaries is perfectly done in this aspect. On one hand the Nine Commentaries exposes the communist party's evil, including the slaughter of over 80 million people and betrayal of millions of square kilometers of territory, allowing a person with conscience to made his or her own decision [about the CCP]. On the other hand, the Nine Commentaries also clearly states that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has set the Chinese nation on a path towards destruction. During the CCP's periodic murder movements, anyone from state Chairman, party general secretaries to a common citizen could become a victim and no one has been safe. Then, even from the perspective of personal safety, one should break up the communist party.

Even more exceptional, the Nine Commentaries expound upon the CCP's evil at a high moral level. After the CCP captured political power, it tightly controlled ideologies. The goal of such control is to monopolize the truth and the power of explanation. In other words, one cannot use traditional values to weigh what is right or wrong but must follow the lead of the CCP. Therefore, the CCP requires everyone to take a stand each time it carries out a political movement, to test people. After all these years, people's moral standards have become twisted. The criterion for determining what is right and wrong is no longer determined by conscience, but rather from the CCP's standardized policies. The CCP has also systematically established a Party culture completely designed for controlling and domesticating people, with twisting people's standards of good and evil as its ultimate goal. In the past, many people criticized the CCP, but it was with the CCP's system of words, its thinking modes, and standard of good and evil. Hence, those people were unable to clearly describe and reveal the CCP's evil. The Nine Commentaries has completely jumped out of the circle of the CCP's culture and applied universal ethical values and principles to judge the CCP.

Perhaps everyone has heard of Confucius' Spring and Autumn . The book became feared by rebels. Why? Because people would know what is wrong and right after reading Spring and Autumn . It becomes obvious that the rebels' behavior is wrong when compared with the values explained in Spring and Autumn , and there would be no room for the rebels to evade the truth. The judgment the Nine Commentaries passes on the CCP is comparable to Spring and Autumn 's judgment of the rebels. This book shatters the CCP's ideology. All of the CCP's crimes are exposed to the world's people, and no one will believe its lies and deception any more.

The Nine Commentaries has a kind of introspective quality, summoning every person to see if he or she has committed crimes for the communist party. This self-reflection will make the person feel ashamed, thereby causing them to want to leave the CCP. This quitting of the CCP does not stem from hatred but from the awakening of a person's morals. This type of awakening is a necessary step for China in its move towards moral reconstruction and rebirth.

The Nine Commentaries makes the CCP uncomfortable. It is unable to make any response and simply resort to other political activities to divert attention. As said in Sun Zi [2]'s Art of War , when two soldiers face one another, one must first establish oneself in an unassailable position, and then wait for the opponent to make a mistake in order to defeat the opponent. However, after the Nine Commentaries came out, the CCP has been in a situation where it is under attack but can not strike back. Think about it, everyone: since it does not even have an opportunity to strike back, in the end it must be defeated. (to be cont'd......)