by Huang Kaili, Minghui reporter
(Clearwisdom.net) The New York University Chinese Students
Association recently published a statement attacking the NTDTV
International Chinese Classical Dance Competition, bringing attention from
all circles. Why would they do this? Why purposely cause damage to the
grand event of promoting Chinese classical culture in international
mainstream society? What's the reason behind it? This reporter interviewed
Dr. Ye Ke, who was the chairman of the Southern California University
Chinese Students Association in 1998 and 1999. Dr. Ye Ke, chairman of South California University
Chinese Students Association in 1998 and 1999 Dr. Ye Ke reasons that since the student association has no kind of
enmity with NTDTV, the Chinese Consulate must be behind this. The
association financially depends on the Chinese Consulate, so the Chinese
Consulate controls them by various means, and uses the head of the student
association to do things that would otherwise be inconvenient or
compromising for the Consulate. Dr. Ye Ke pointed out that such behavior by student association leaders
is a stain on their reputations, and will make it difficult for them to
later gain a foothold in a free society. He hopes Chinese students can
distinguish the difference between loving China and loving the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP). He cautions them not to be used by the Chinese
Consulate. He also said the student association should be an organization
that serves students, not foreign governments. Statements made by several
student leaders under control of the Chinese Consulate can't represent a
broad range of students and scholars. The following are statements from the full interview: Reporter: Dr. Ye Ke, several days ago the New York Student and
Scholar Association issued a statement that attempted to block the NTDTV
International Chinese Classical Dance Competition. What are your thoughts
on this? Ye Ke: This was unexpected. Although the Student Association is
controlled by the Chinese Consulate, that they would publicly slander in
this way, so much over the limit, makes me surprised. Reporter: Why are you surprised? Ye Ke: The leaders of the Association should not have any kind of
enmity with Falun Gong or NTDTV. They should not personally hate Falun
Gong or NTDTV. So where is the hatred from? It is the Chinese Consulate,
it controls them behind the scenes. You can tell from the expressions used
in the article. The pattern of the entire statement is quite low, completely the view
of the CCP in taking a political stand and generating political battles.
That such posturing would exist on a US campus is highly unimaginable. Why
would they say Falun Gong is a [slanderous word omitted]? It is
absolutely the CCP's set of excuses. What qualifications do they have in
declaring that the Chinese students of New York University refuse (to
accept) Falun Gong? Possibly many students themselves or family members,
or friends practice Falun Gong, do they know of Falun Gong? How can they
say the persecution of Falun Gong is supported by the entire society?
Practicing Falun Gong is voluntary; tens of millions of people practice
Falun Gong and do not agree with the persecution. At the beginning of the
persecution, six out of seven members of the standing committee of the
Politburo were against the persecution. Do the students know about this?
They did not do research (into this matter), and just copied the CCP's
political wording. As a student association, issuing such an article-this really makes
people feel distressed. These behaviors will leave a stain on the
students' lives. Reporter: Can you explain why you feel distressed for the New York
students controlled by the CCP? Ye Ke: I myself worked for the student association before, so I
understand their mindset well. [...] This is the consistent technique of
the CCP-creating fights among the populace. I hope the student leaders do
not cause hatred and battles among Chinese, and harm each other under the
instigation of the Consulate. The CCP does not equal China. The great China has several thousand
years of history; however the CCP only has a few dozen years, what does it
count for? Maybe someone thinks criticizing the Communist Party,
especially if he is a Party member himself, is like criticizing himself.
As a matter of fact, if you have read a bit of history, they would know
what kind of disasters the CCP has brought to China. Look at the
disintegration of the Communist regime in East Europe, look at Europeans'
reconsideration and condemnation of the Communist dictatorship, look at
the completion of the Victims of Communism
Memorial. Actually we can see that justice is fair; the crimes
committed against people by the Communist Party can't escape history's
eventual judgment. If these people still do not understand what the CCP has done, then I
would ask them to read the Nine Commentaries of the Communist Party.
If they do not believe the persecution suffered by Falun Gong, I shall
recommend them to read the third open letter written by attorney Gao
Zhisheng, and check out the (official) Falun Gong website. Listen to many
sides and you will enlighten. Look at the pictures, the persecution cases,
you will know what has happened. [...] Does this persecution bring any advantage to the entire country? Why
spend so much human power and resources to persecute a kind group? Isn't
this persecution the disaster of every Chinese, the shame of every
Chinese? To end this persecution early, doesn't it benefit all Chinese?
This is true patriotism. Therefore, I hope the student leaders can calmly
consider, and think about what a Chinese with conscience and sense of
justice would do. Hitting a person when he is down, and being the
accomplice to persecution is not what a moral person should do. Reporter: So the CCP is using this matter to make news, what do you
think of that? Ye Ke: It is ridiculous. Just like what I said, the operation of
the student association is actually in the hands of a few people. New York
University Student Association did this, entirely because the Chinese
Consulate manipulates from behind. It controls several heads, and made
this happen, but it can't represent the whole body of Chinese students and
scholars. Many students are not happy with the behavior of the students'
heads being controlled by the Consulate. Such a thing, such a statement
can't be put on the table, what can it explain? Nothing. The student association itself is a service organization, not a
political organization-simply an ordinary student community group. Like
the letters from the Colombia Chinese Student and Scholar Association,
which claims to represent approximately 4,000 members, that is a huge
joke. It is the same as the CCP wanting to represent all the people of
China-it is violating public opinion. There are many students and scholars
who are Falun Gong practitioners; how can they be represented? This is CCP
culture. It is invalid outside of China. [...] Reporter: What relationship is there between the student
association and the Chinese Consulate? Ye Ke: The original purpose of setting up a student association is
to help Chinese students settle in the US, because when they just arrive,
they are not familiar with people and the environment, and need such help;
also it provides a convenient avenue for students to associate and
communicate (with one another). Basically every one is a volunteer.
However, with limited financial resources, that's how the Consulate can
intervene. [...] Reporter: In your experience, how does the CCP control the student
association? Ye Ke: They usually have several ways to control the student
association: 1. Winning over and maintaining control of the student heads, giving
them some personal benefits. For example, regularly inviting them to
gatherings at the Consulate, inviting them to some important celebration/
event, or social events; When some important figures come from China, they
ask students to organize a welcoming committee, and many people regard it
as a honor; they also introduce them to some political and business people
from China, and some local community groups under its control, and so on. 2. Providing certain funds to the student association. (This is
important) because most of the overseas students in the US from China are
not so rich, at least it was the situation in my time. In order to attract
more people to join the student association and various activities
organized by them, basically there was no membership fee or activity fee. There are three sources of funding for the student association: First,
part of the funding from school goes towards a student group. If this is
the case, activities must be open to all students, in addition there are
few school sponsorships. Secondly, they receive sponsorship from the
community, get some advertising, or ask familiar and warmhearted people
for some help, but usually they don't get much of this. Third source is
from the Chinese Consulate, this is the major part. When holding big
events, such as Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, or student celebrations for New
Year's, sponsorship from the Consulate often becomes the main source of
funding for the student association. When I was in the position, the
Consulate gave student associations anywhere from 200 to 700 US dollars
for every activity. It is said that after the persecution of Falun Gong,
the Consulate became more generous to the student association. Hence, the
student association has formed a kind of dependent relationship
financially with the Chinese Consulate. Certainly, this economical support
should be their full responsibility. They originally take Chinese people's
money, but the Consulate actually uses it to control the association head
to do things for them. If the association heads are obedient , it is
easier to get money (for these student organizations) and the amount is
larger. The student association turns into their political instrument. 3. Monitoring correspondence of the student association. The email of
the Chinese Consulate is mixed among students, so it can receive open
mailing going out from the association, and monitor the trend of the
association. Actually, they are not students or scholars, so it is not
lawful to do so. 4. Influence and control election of the people in charge of the
student association. Because the student association is organized loosely,
if you are from the mainland, you often can become a member automatically.
But maybe only 20% of members, or even less, participate in activities.
Just like in my years, there were 300 to 500 people on the student
association's email list, normally about 60 to 100 came to the activities,
and that was not bad. Because we were all volunteers, participating
voluntarily, some came for a long time, some moved far away, some became
busy, some had their own circles and stopped coming. But when the
association changed boards or had a big event, more people would come. During our time, the chairman of the student association was elected.
The notice was sent out about a month in advance, to ask everyone to
enroll for the election. If only one person enrolled, then this person
would become chairman automatically; if there was more than one candidate,
then voting was held. Because normally the candidates here have a certain
relationship with the Consulate, the Consulate does not worry that
much-its interference is not obvious. But if the Consulate must guard
against democratic activists or other groups of people, then the Consulate
may utilize their control network, operate privately, to stop those people
from being elected. I know such a thing happened in the student
association election of the University of Minnesota in 2004. 5. Providing other support. For example, they may provide some student
associations with a forum server and so on. Reporter: So how does the Chinese Consulate use the student
association? What do they ask them to do? Ye Ke: They use the student association to create momentum. For
example, when important figures from China come to visit or some important
celebration or event is forthcoming, it wants to create a
"grand" scene. They also request that the student association pay attention to some
group's trends. These things can't be done by the Consulate alone. In my
days, it mainly guarded against democracy activists. When the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong, the Chinese Consulate
became the CCP's tool in persecuting Falun Gong overseas. They wanted to
use the student association, convincing it to hold a so-called criticism
meeting, and collect signatures. I knew many members of the student
association did not oppose Falun Gong, but we were all forced to express
views by the Chinese Consulate, then the CCP media made some changes to
defame Dafa, and the changes were beyond all recognition. Then they took
it all back to China, to deceive the populace there. When the student association held some activities, the Chinese
Consulate pressured the student association to not let Falun Gong
practitioners join. But this behavior breaches school regulations. It is a
type of discrimination. Therefore the student association may not dare to
do it publicly. Previously when I attended their activities, the heads of student
associations were quite nervous, not because they regarded me as a threat,
but because they were scared that the Consulate would find out that they
were going against their wishes, and make troubles for them. One year I
worked backstage. Not long after I moved a stool to the stage, a student
head saw me and rushed away in a hurry. He was friendly and greeted me on
other occasions, but when he was with the Consulate officials, he
pretended he did not know me. Sometimes it is very hard to understand this
mindset. The control of the Consulate over them is obvious. The Chinese Consulate also uses the student association to collect
information on Falun Gong practitioners, and report practitioners'
whereabouts, thereby turning the student association into a spy network.
Many people used by the Consulate do not even realize that this is
violating other people's rights and freedoms, they even don't realize that
the CCP actually turns them into informers, and makes them do dishonorable
things with the nature of spies. But, because many of those watched were
previously in charge of the association or activists and knew those
people, sometimes those people would tell these things to people being
watched. A person in charge of the association told me the Chinese
Consulate asked about my situation. He told me because he felt we are
friends, but he did not realize the seriousness of this matter. Finally, I also want to say, the Chinese Consulate is paid by the
people of China, so it should do things that truly benefit the people.
They carry on the CCP's persecution policy outside of China, are
accomplices in the persecution, and do dishonorable things. This
absolutely should not be done. They drag the heads of student associations
into trouble, which will make it hard for these students to gain a
foothold in a free society. They are harming these students. I hope the
heads of student organizations will not be used by the Consulate again,
not be enticed by momentary benefits, and not be confused by the CCP's
attractive excuses. [...]
Posting date: 7/7/2007
Original article date: 7/6/2007
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Translated on 6/29/2007
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/6/27/157730.html