She Has Seen Real Communism! Gong Xiaoxia Warns: The American Left “They Are Truly Communists”!

Senior media professional and historian Gong Xiaoxia was interviewed by Stan, host of the YouTube channel "News Hard Bang," sharing her journey from experiencing the Cultural Revolution in China to immigrating to the United States 39 years ago. She deeply analyzed the evolution of American left-wing political ideology, pointing out that its core logic is identical to the totalitarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During the interview, Gong also discussed her experience of being wanted by the CCP for her speech, reviewed the operation of the American democratic system, and shared her views on Taiwan facing the CCP's threat and politicians on the island visiting China to make statements.

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Full transcript:

You have experienced the Cultural Revolution and you came from autocratic China. For quite some time now, many Americans have been discussing the rise of the far-left ideology of communism. Do you see this happening? And where is it manifested? There is a great deal of it. Many young people in the US, when we look at the current US elections, there is a group of them who call themselves social democrats. And those of us who are very familiar with the language of the communists know that they really are communists. I used to feel a bit out of place in Democratic Party circles; whether in labor unions or academia, I always felt, "Ah, you're an Asian woman, so you should do this and that." There is completely no such issue in the Republican Party. Where things need to be colorblind, they are very colorblind. But because people are the way they are, it's not so easy to say you want to enter a community. Later on, people told me that being an American just means holding citizenship. What is the most important thing when you are an American? I said, "Just say hi." You walk in, you talk to people, you smile, and within a minute everything is fine. But many people cannot do this, and instead they say people discriminate against them and don't approach them. Why should people approach you? You should approach others, right?

News Hard Bang features the most refreshing news, I am the show host Stan, welcome everyone to watch. Today I am at Viginia Asian, honored to be able to interview Gong Xiaoxia today, I am also an old fan of Gong Xiaoxia, thank you. I used to watch your show back at VOA, thank you very much for being willing to accept my interview today, thank you, I'm very glad. This year is the 250th anniversary of the United States, and since you have stayed in the United States for a very long time, and you also closely interact with leaders in various fields in the US—39 years, 39 years, you are a veteran American—and this is your first time participating in our show, I would like to ask, what does this festival, the 250th anniversary of the United States, mean to people from anywhere in the world?

The United States, as the most successful democratic republic in the world, provides an example to the world. We know that when people first immigrated to America, there were two main groups: one came to Virginia—I just took a group of friends to see Virginia, to see Jamestown—and the other to Massachusetts. Both groups arrived with a specific vision. Once they arrived, they wanted to build a society that was, in the words of Winthrop at the time, close to God and far from the King. Being close to God meant we would build our ideal nation. We landed in Virginia in 1607, and in 1619, just 12 years later, as soon as people were able to feed themselves, we built the first parliament in America, the Virginia House of Burgesses. So, if you look at what Americans built in 1776, it was the world's first republic without a king. And I think Virginia is very representative for Chinese speakers; perhaps not everyone thinks of this connection, but your first governor, Patrick Henry, said, 'Give me liberty or give me death.' This was exactly the slogan seen on many posters held by people in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 student movement. On July 5th, the day after Independence Day, I went to the very place where Patrick Henry gave that speech. I brought about 60 friends with us, and at the site where Patrick Henry spoke, they placed a poster of the students in Beijing's Tiananmen Square with the slogan 'Give me liberty or give me death.' This slogan has spread across the world. Patrick Henry was our state's first governor. Given that the U.S. always has many impressive events on July 4th, what do you think is special about this 250th anniversary?

The special point this year is that, well, 250 years is obviously a major celebration, but let me tell a little story—or rather, not a story, but a fact. When Trump was elected in 2016, they started planning the 250th anniversary celebration in 2017. A reporter asked President Trump, 'What do you plan to do for the 250th celebration?' I remember his answer very clearly: 'Unfortunately, I will not be the president then.' But think about it, by a twist of fate, he is the president now. The fact that Trump is the president for the 250th anniversary really illustrates something fundamental: that the American people, that ballot in our hands, is truly, incredibly useful. Some people say our democracy is fake, or whatever, but look at what our votes have done for us. Whether you like him or not, this president is standing on that stage. It says, if you want to defeat him, go get the votes. I remember very clearly that when I first came from China, around 2009 or 2010, I was one of the organizers for our local Tea Party. We marched together; we registered 50,000 people, and 75,000 showed up nationwide. At the time, as I was marching with people from Virginia, I heard them saying about a congressman, 'That's a son of a bitch, let's go back and organize a committee to vote him out.' I was deeply moved at that moment. As someone from China, I could imagine that in a protest in China, people might say, 'That's a son of a bitch,' and then we would go back, flip over his table, drag him out, beat him up, or even kill him. This is a very different democratic culture. So, as we look at the 250th celebration, regardless of the noise outside, you can see this is a festival for the American people, for all the people. I am in the United States now, preparing to participate in this year's July 4th activities.

Yes, that is the American spirit. No matter what kind of political figure it is, you can like them or you can dislike them. If you dislike them, you just wait for the next election, which gives you the opportunity to vote them out. Right. And if you like them, you just go and vote to support them. Speaking of President Trump, I was also there on-site at the event near Harvard on July 4th. Are you one of those 150,000 people who went back? I was there on the spot, participating in that event directly. I think his speech this time was also very important, but there is a historical context to it. The stories of American state enterprises, the leaders and war heroes who have participated in various wars for the United States, were all very moving on stage. And he also mentioned a key point, which is about the recent awakening of communism, and even said that the new American flag will defeat the hammer and sickle flag. I would like to ask you, Sasha, you have experienced the Cultural Revolution, and you also came from dictatorial China. During this period, many Americans are discussing the rise of communism and that kind of far-left ideology. Can you see this happening? And where does it manifest?

You came from dictatorial China. There are so many young people in the United States. We look at the group rising in the current American election; they call themselves social democrats. And those of us who are very familiar with the language of the Communist Party know that they are truly communists. Their rhetoric regarding the future of the country, their criticism of capitalism, their expectations for the people, etc.—if you were to translate this into a Chinese version, it would be exactly what the students in Yan'an during the December 9th Movement could repeat word for word. Not even mentioning the Communist Party, look at the Kuomintang in the 1920s; it was the same. I am very emotional about how little we learn. We really learn too little from history. So, how do you identify a communist now?

A communist is very simple: they want to share other people's property. It's that simple. So when Zora Muddani, the New York City Council member, said, "We have to continue to elect more socialists, and we have to ensure that we are unapologetic about our socialism. There are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it's BDS, or whether it's the end goal of seizing the means of production," she was not joking. Right, she was not joking. We have seen this; we have all been "communized," haven't we? So-called communism means that what is yours is also mine. If it is communism, they say, "Fine, everything belongs to the people." But who are the people? The government then represents the people. After representing the people, they build an autocratic government above the people, and in the name of the people, they deprive everyone. That is why President Jefferson once said—I tell people this—some say he was a Democrat with many egalitarian ideas. I say no. Jefferson once said something very famous: when 99 people can vote to deprive one person of their property, democracy ceases to exist. In reality, what we are talking about here is that in the name of the people—whether it's 99% or 95%, the CCP used to say 95%—they can deprive others. That is communism. If you look at this group in the United States now, these so-called social democrats, the first thing they do is, of course, use existing American institutions, like the tax system, to deprive others. Later, if they succeed, they will use violence to deprive others. So in the end, those who are actually deprived are the ordinary people they claim to serve.

If we look at their propositions, their slogans, and their banners, which ones should we be particularly careful about? Because some people like to pretend to be very neutral. Now, for example, the American Democratic Party also likes to use some people who might claim to represent the working class or the petty bourgeoisie. But every time they mention certain slogans, which ones make you feel a bit of the flavor of the Communist Party?

That is precisely my point: depriving others in the name of the state, in the name of the government, and expanding the power of the government. You know, if you look at the founding of the United States and the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, anyone who has read The Federalist Papers—those written by Madison, yes, Madison—knows this. The government is a necessary evil, something that has to exist, a necessary evil, yes. Because the government is an evil, it must be restricted, yes. Whenever anyone calls for expanding government power and using that power to deprive the people, it all stems from the same root. Call them the Communist Party or whatever else you like, but what the Communist Party does is precisely this: depriving the people in the name of the people, establishing a government in the name of the people, and depriving everyone in the name of the government. Unfortunately today, many people know that government is necessary, but they forget that it is a necessary evil, yes; they forget its inherently evil component, yes. But in reality, once power is placed in human hands, everyone will face these related temptations, so there must be checks and balances, and there must be absolute limitations on it.

Now, because your experience as a journalist is so rich, I imagine some of our viewers might not have watched BOA before, might not be very clear about your background, and your name is also very special—Sasha, very few people have the English name Sasha. That's a Russian name, so why, why did you decide to take a Russian name back then?

Well, you know, Russians back then were Soviet citizens. The Chinese Communist Party had just seized power, and I was born in 1956, making me exactly 70 years old this year. At that time, my father’s Russian was very good, and he had many Russian friends. When I was still in my mother’s belly, I had an older sister, and my father very, very much wanted a son. So he asked his Russian friend to give him a boy's name for this expected son. The friend came up with Alexander, and in Russian that's Sasha. So when I turned out to be a girl, I still became Sasha, yes. So I have a boy's name. In Polish, Alexandra is a girl's name, but its short form isn't Sasha, it's Ola—Alexandra, yes, ah, in Russian you can also say Sandra, OK, you can also say Sandra, OK, that's right, yes. But mine is truly a Russian boy's name, yes, it's really interesting. So my name Xiaoxia comes from Sasha. First I was called Sasha, and afterwards I was truly called Xiaoxia, because of the summer [Xia], yes, it's very interesting. So you first had a Russian name, and only afterwards a Chinese name? Yes. Oh, that's very interesting. Back then, after you arrived in the United States, why did you decide to become a journalist?

When I first came to the United States, I came to study. Initially, I wanted to be a scholar. Because in China, after coming out of Peking University, I studied history, and I loved history very much. When I got to the United States—back then, before 1984, sociology did not exist in China; it was considered a pseudoscience—I became very interested in it. So I came to the U.S. to study sociology. I studied in the Department of Sociology at Harvard, yes, and began pursuing a PhD. Later people joked about what that meant, and I said it meant "permanent head damage," my brain was broken. And indeed, I had that feeling. After I finished my studies, I went on to teach, yes. At the time I was teaching at UCLA, and I felt extremely dissatisfied. To me, the academic world was a place without freedom of thought. Was it already dominated by the Frankfurt School and rather left-leaning ideas back then? Yes, very woke, uh-huh. For example, people like us—I like classical sociology, sociological theory and so on, because I come from a history background and prefer looking at society from a historical perspective, and so on. But, ah, the academic world is also a place of extremely severe racial and gender discrimination, yes. They took one look at someone like me—look at you, you look like this, you're a woman, why aren't you studying women, why aren't you studying immigrants? I said no, I like classical sociology. There was no foothold for us there, yes. You can see it just by looking at them. Then, my feeling about academia was that it restricted my entire life within an extremely narrow box. I really didn't like it, nor did I like having my thoughts restricted by others. Because back in China, just for overthinking, talking nonsense, and speaking my mind, I spent a year in prison when I was young, back when I was 19. I felt very... back then we called the Communist Party feudal fascism, so if you didn't go to prison, who would?

So you fled precisely that kind of ideological control, only to arrive in the United States and find that academia also has a certain degree of ideological control—quite severe, you could say, right up to the present. So why are young people today becoming so left-wing? Hmm.

They're taught that way.

Yeah, universities, universities and middle schools... uh, I'm not saying—well, the absolute worst thing in American universities is probably the school of education, which trains K-12 teachers who brainwash children from a very young age. Later on, I now go to school and uh, I won't let anyone call me doctor. Ever since, uh, Joe Biden's wife, that—uh, that Joe Biden, um, demanded that everyone call her doctor, I banned everyone from calling me doctor because I feel like that's just too—well, there is one thing, which is that academic thought, the entire academic world over these years, has gone against freedom of thought.

How did I decide to become a journalist? I had an opportunity back then, it was, uh, 1998. Now that I think about it, Radio Free Asia had just been established, and they were opening a Cantonese service. As for me, because I had been writing articles for newspapers and magazines for a long time—I really loved writing newspaper articles, I found it interesting—I accepted a job at the Cantonese service of Radio Free Asia. Um, I, because I had been writing for newspapers and magazines for a long time, and when the Cantonese service director was there, I was one of the founding members. I am a Cantonese person, a native local, so I went to the Cantonese service, and that is how I entered the news industry. Once I entered the news industry, actually, at that time, I felt that in those few years at Radio Free Asia, I learned a set of rules that the news industry has. Especially since I used to work as a manual laborer, repairing machines and such, I really enjoyed it, so I learned a set of production skills. Um, how to produce, how to—even now, I still really like filming things myself. That’s that. So, doing production, and then later, because my staff at Radio Free Asia were organizing a union, I supported them, and the boss fired me. Ah, after being fired, I looked at it, and it was very unfortunate for everyone. You see, they couldn't fire my subordinates, but they could fire me because I was management. But I felt that, because at the time the bosses there were—uh, they were—uh, suppressing the wages of Asian employees at Radio Free Asia to only two-thirds of what non-Asian employees with the same qualifications were making. It was intentional, it was—look, this is discrimination. They would hire high school graduates to do computer tech or something, and they could get a starting salary of 39,000, while my reporters had a starting salary of 23,000. Of course, I was very unhappy. I was very unhappy. So later, the people at the top were spending money recklessly, it was very, very corrupt. The white upper management was really corrupt, and the employees were very unhappy, so they organized a union. I, on the other hand, have always been—sometimes I'm a bit foolish—I supported them in organizing the union. Then, uh, I was—I belonged to management, so, in short, they fired me. I had nowhere to go, no boss, no references, and in a new industry, so I found the AFL-CIO union. I told them I was fired for supporting the union, and I said I was probably one of the best experts on China they could find, so they hired me. So I worked at the international department of the AFL-CIO in the U.S. for a while, and I learned a lot. Uh, because the AFL-CIO has a lot of connections with American politics—they are the Democratic Party's biggest, biggest donors—um, so I, I started to get involved with Democratic politics, presidential elections, local elections, and I started to—I found American politics, I really felt it was fascinating, I was very interested. Because back in China, people called us pro-democracy activists, democracy fighters, and so on, but we were truly interested in democracy. So after I started working there, I—look, in 2004, I spent three weeks in Florida campaigning for John Kerry, the Democratic Party's John Kerry. That place, yes, the Democratic Party's John Kerry. I kept campaigning for the Democratic Party. He later became Secretary of State. Ah, yes, he later became Secretary of State. Uh, but when did I change? It was when, uh, 2008—actually 2007—at that time, because I, I really hated George W. Bush. I was anti-war, I was still an organizer, organizing those anti-war things. Later, I, I—because I was in a club, a club called the Empire Salon, which was full of people from the American diplomatic circle, and, you know, all kinds of people from the news industry. Actually, come to think of it, the organizer was John Henry, the sixth-generation grandson of Patrick Henry. John is a very good friend of ours. Anyway, that's how it was. So, one day there, someone came—Brzezinski came, um, Carter's National Security Advisor. Brzezinski told us, 'Hey, I recommend you all must vote for this young senator, this Obama, who is running for president,' and how he was this and that. So, I, I very actively ran over—it must have been late 2007, yes, just when it was starting—and his headquarters was right near us, so I went. Half an hour later, I was so angry I could die, and I walked out. Why do you say that?

Because, because the problem is that when you look inside, it's not right. The slogans they were saying were ones I was very used to hearing, like, you know, equalizing wealth, uh, uh, overthrowing, it was equivalent to, to this, that America is a, if it's such a bad society, so unfair, I said I love America, coming here, America, this, this gave me a lot of freedom, so I felt they were truly a group of anti-American people, that feeling of 'overthrow the local tyrants and divide the land,' uh, that kind of feeling, so, I wasn't having it. I said, in that case, I must help to get him elected, so I joined Hillary's campaign. Do you want to see a letter Hillary wrote to me? During the primary back then. Whose? Hillary wrote me a letter, I'll show you, you can cut this out. 'These hands have worked vigorously to win back the White House in November. Wow. With appreciation and best regards. I am sincerely yours, Hillary Clinton.' Wow. Okay, this is, this is, OK, this is really a letter from Hillary! A letter from Hillary. This isn't, this was written to me personally. So after she read my article in The Washington Post, yes, yes, it is, it is, it is, it is, it is, this, written to me. I also have a letter written to me by George Bush, and all sorts of other things, I'll go dig them up, find them. Just the other day I was moving, and I dug out this letter from Hillary. This is, so I, I joined, I joined Hillary's campaign, in New Hampshire, um, stepping through such deep snow, stepping through knee-deep snow, campaigning for her. Later she won New Hampshire, right. And then after Hillary lost, I said, this, I felt that Obama was truly, I watched him all the way, I said, this is, is a disaster for America, um, so, I rashly joined McCain's campaign, you know McCain, right, uh, also a Senator, right, right, I joined McCain's campaign, but it was very interesting at the time, I, my impression was that Republicans were all relatively racist, or something like that, right? I joined John McCain's campaign, and hey, uh, only on the third day, I joined, just making phone calls, people didn't know me, I was just there, later someone came down and said, 'you're very articulate,' you speak very well, I said that, uh, he said we have reporters coming tomorrow, can you do an interview? I said don't get it wrong, I'm a Democrat! He said it doesn't matter, just say what you think, and then they, uh, they gave me this, uh, CBS came, and I talked to them, later anyway, hey, they said you spoke really well, and then I muddled my way into becoming John McCain's representative for the debate in the Asian community. My god! That's amazing! No, it was just once, because why? Obama sent his debate representative out, also from Harvard, because I'm from Harvard, right, he was Obama's classmate, later an ethnic Chinese who came to the US at age six, saying, we'll come and talk to you ethnic Chinese, my Chinese is so good, so good. If you want to tell me how good your Chinese is, I'll just show off my Beijing dialect with him, right?

After two sentences they gave up and from then on we just spoke in English. So you speak English, I speak English. They thought I wasn't good at it. Then there were also people in the audience speaking Cantonese, so I switched to Cantonese and baffled them. Speaking three languages at once, so after that they wouldn't debate with me anymore, forget it, they ignored me. It was hilarious, really fun that time, just like that. Just like that, I found myself entering the Republican Party, and I realized for the first time that they accept me as American. They accepted me as an American, not because of your skin color, not because of your faith, but because you are an American. Yes, it had nothing to do with me because before, in Democratic areas, I always felt a bit awkward. Whether in unions or academia, I always felt, ah, you're an Asian woman, you should do this or that. There is completely no such issue in the Republican Party; it has a very colorblind point. Yes, very colorblind, but because people are just like that, it's not so easy to say you want to enter a community. Later, someone asked me, when you are an American, once you get citizenship, what is the most important thing about being an American? I said, just say hi. You walk in and talk to people, smile for a second, and then everything is fine in a minute. But many people can't do this and just say that people discriminate against them and don't approach us. Why would people approach you? You should approach others, right? So for me, I campaigned and made a lot of friends, and after making friends, it was also quite funny, they said, well, anyway, since this is long, just edit this part out. Later, one day, I received a call saying, I am the Attorney General of Virginia. Uh-huh. Tonight we are going to have a gathering and dinner, would you like to come? I said I don't even know him, but going is going. Hmm. That was Bob McDonnell. OK. He called me, and he told me that he was going to run for governor and asked if I could support him. Because my voice in the Asian community was quite loud, I said, well. I said, I don't have a good history of election. I always support failed people like John Kerry. I said that. He said, now let's change history. I said, okay, okay, so we became good friends. And we are still quite good friends now, uh, so I did this. Then two days later I got another call saying, I am the Speaker of the House. Uh-huh. The Virginia Speaker of the House. Can I talk to you and have a meal? So I went to have a meal with him, and we just had a meal. He asked if I wanted to run for the House, and I said sure. Hmm. I muddled my way into becoming a Republican candidate. Hmm. Anyway, no, because I was in a very, well, a state legislator in Virginia, a state legislator, yes, state. Yes, my main purpose was to understand, I wanted to understand, by that time I had already left the AFL-CIO. Hmm. I wanted to know what American democracy is like. Uh-huh. So I ran a campaign once, that was in 2009. Hmm. Uh. Even though I ran in a state with 70% Democrats, I still got over 40% of the vote. Hmm. Wow, impressive. Still pretty good, ah, but it was not easy, knocking on doors one by one, talking to people one by one, place by place. I finally learned how much a single vote truly matters to a candidate in democracy. Hmm. So because of this, I became, ah, at least in the Chinese-speaking world, I became somewhat of an election expert. At that time, later on, Voice of America happened to have, uh, something happen, that was in February 2011. Congress said Voice of America was useless. Hmm. Cutting 8% or 65. Hmm. I grew up listening to Voice of America. Back then, when I was in prison, my, uh, interrogator, the second time, the second time asked, did you listen to reactionary broadcasts? Yes, I did, listening to Voice of America. So, and then Voice of America, and of course I was very unhappy. Hmm. Then because I participated in many campaign activities, I went to lobby Congress. I lobbied dozens of lawmakers, I guess. Later, Congress originally did not make the cuts, and then Voice of America said, uh, there should be someone who could, uh, kind of handle these outside things, uh, so they, uh, made me, I became the director of the Chinese Branch of Voice of America. Hmm.

That is how it is. Anyway, that is the process of how I got in there. Well, he is very interesting. And he has direct dealings and connections with political figures and organizations across all levels of American society, which is great. And you are very familiar with both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. I have been deeply involved in both sides. So I would like to ask, based on what I hear, because back during Obama's time, the Democratic Party underwent some changes—a drastic change. Yes, yes. Is that what President Trump is talking about, a shift toward communism?

First of all, communism hasn't even started yet. Sometimes communism is a bit... the Democratic Party is a bit left-leaning, with high taxes. How... I don't like it. But you also understand, but anti-American. Hmm. Anti-American. Hmm. Anti-American. Yes. They just think that the United States is a country with racial discrimination and all sorts of bad things. Hmm. I... at that time, I... uh... I published a book called Born American. You can still buy it online now. I just said that after I arrived in the United States, I felt that in China, whatever I did was wrong. Hmm. In the end, it was so wrong that I ended up in jail. No matter what I did, it was wrong. But then, finally, when you arrive in the United States, you feel that... just by living according to my own free will, not only is there no problem, but it is also highly appreciated. That is, I'm appreciated, appreciated, not in China. Just this. This feeling. So I think the United States is a very free country. I was born to come to the United States. Hmm. That is also this spirit: no matter where you come from, if your values align and you are suitable for this place, then you are a person of this place. This is also what Trump often says, to build a color-blind society, where you don't see skin color, don't see color. It's just seeing your merit, where your actual ability lies. This is... this is a point about the United States that I really appreciate. Yes.

Now, let's move from the United States and talk about what is happening in China now. Because... uh... in early March, uh, the CCP passed a Law on Promoting National Unity and Progress. Uh, the Progress Promotion Law. It will officially be implemented on July 1st, and will officially take effect. According to this law, uh, the CCP can also pursue legal responsibility against overseas organizations or individuals. And as long as you are considered by them to be unsupportive, that is, of national unity, then you have to pay criminal responsibility. Uh, I would like to ask two questions. How does Sasha view this law? And second, what kind of countermeasures do you think democratic countries like the United States should take? Because there are many people here from China who are already citizens, but because of this law, they may often encounter some anxiety. Because the CCP treats everyone who was born in China, as long as they have Chinese ancestry, as their own property. How do you view this law?

Yes, no, they are all treated as domestic slaves. Oh, yes, you put it better. Hmm. It's just that simple, you are just a domestic slave. I'll say a piece of news first. That is, uh, after this CCP bill, uh, took effect, the U.S. Senate passed Resolution 444. In this resolution, they condemned Xi Jinping. Hmm. For suppressing ethnic minorities, condemned Xi Jinping for depriving human rights, so this is... this is not a law, it is a resolution, meaning it is a statement. So this resolution is also a gesture. Hmm. As for the National Unity Law itself, I... I am a victim of it myself, with a 200,000 HKD bounty on my head. Thank you. This matter is like this, it's very interesting. Uh, they say I'm for Hong Kong independence. Hmm. Hey, I'm not even a Hong Konger. How did this start? Because, uh, because not long after, Hong Kongers were very willing to say, 'Hey, I was... Hong Kong was taken away by the Communist Party.' Many Hong Kongers were very angry, they wanted to take some measures. Hmm. Yes. So, someone asked me what we should do, if we should take violent action, what we should do. I said no. I said that what can truly create a country is the will of the people, it is the parliament. Hmm. So I gave two lectures online, talking about the path from the Continental Congress to the Declaration of Independence. Hmm. So I said that the United States as a country was purely created by the will of the people. How is the will of the people created? By electing representatives. Hmm. So, after Mr. Yuan Gongyi heard this idea of mine, he went to organize the Hong Kong Parliament. Hmm. It was because of this that he was wanted twice, each time... three times wanted. The first time, the second time, there was a 1 million HKD bounty on his head. The third time, like us, they wanted all of us. It is said that this... uh... there is a 200,000 HKD bounty on my head. So now I belong to... uh... this... uh... wanted by the Communist Party, I can't go anywhere. The FBI told me, 'You should be careful if you go to countries with close relations to the Communist Party.' I said I won't be careful, let it be whatever it will be. I still am to this day. Hmm.

You probably wouldn't go to countries that are too friendly with the Communist Party, right?

I have no interest in going there either, to be honest. I won't go to Hong Kong, I can't go anymore, even though the food there is better, right? Yeah. Ah, I won't go, but it is indeed a big deal. And what's very ridiculous is that the Hong Kong side claims that I, uh, fled Hong Kong in 2013. I was never a Hong Kong citizen. In 2013, I went to Hong Kong on a business trip as the director of the Mandarin Service of Voice of America, holding a U.S. passport. So, I immediately contacted the State Department and asked, "Is there some mistake?" Yeah. Yeah. But you see, that's just how they think. Even before this "Democracy and Human Rights Act," it was like this, and now with it, it's even more so. Yeah. It's even more so, so I'm afraid that the 200,000 bounty might need an extra zero at the end. I hope they add some, really.

When we talk about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), they often conceal many facts. And every time they encounter various natural disasters, they always claim it's a "once-in-a-century" event, and they release floodwaters without warning. It's all kinds of human rights violations. Recently, there was a major flood in Guangxi, and many people unfortunately died. So, uh, Sasha, you have lived in the United States for so long, and you understand this democratic society very well. Do you think such things would happen in a democratic country?

If such things happened, the government would be the first to be scolded. Yeah. Uh, but on the CCP's side, you can't talk about anything that happens. What I experienced when I was young was, uh, these natural and man-made disasters being called "once-in-a-century," and if dozens of people died, it was considered nothing. In 1975, because of the CCP's various water conservancy projects and other issues, the Yellow River in Henan changed course, causing a massive flood. Yeah. About 200,000 people died. Yeah. No one reported it, and no one knows about it to this day. Look at, for example, the Tangshan earthquake. Yeah. The death toll was at least 160,000, and the total number of casualties, including injuries and deaths, was 400,000. This is a figure they have published. With such a huge number, why did China—at the time, we all knew the situation—why did China say it was a 7.9 magnitude earthquake? Yeah. If it were magnitude 8, it was actually an 8.2 magnitude earthquake according to the materials I've seen. But why? Because if they said it was an earthquake of magnitude 8 or above, the International Red Cross and the United Nations could come without your approval, right? So at the time, they said it was a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, and 160,000 people died there. Yes, yes. So the CCP has done many such things. Historically, they have truly done even more, not to mention the various man-made, uh, various famines. Like the Great Leap Forward famine, where 40 million lives were lost. Yeah. So they have a lot of blood on their hands. Even now, the CCP, well, let's just put it this way: it is a government that is not responsible to the people. Yeah.

Finally, I would like to ask, because most of my audience is from Taiwan. Yeah. Taiwan is currently facing unprecedented pressure from the CCP. From, uh, harassment by warships to militia vessels, to undersea cables being cut, to attacks. Do you have any advice for the Taiwanese people, or any suggestions on how they can face this risk from the CCP?

I think in any society, especially a developed society like Taiwan, the most important thing is its own internal affairs. Yes. In fact, I always tell people that regimes, especially large ones, generally cannot be overthrown from the outside; they usually collapse from within. Just look at how the former Soviet Union fell. Yes. Look at the Chinese Communist Party—no one else will overthrow them in the future; they will collapse under their own weight. Including Poland during the communist era, the government fell first, coupled with pressure from Solidarity. Exactly, yes. They collapse on their own. Ultimately, in any such society, Taiwan needs to be even more vigilant. To be honest, it's not easy for the CCP to attack you. Yesterday, my show just released an article, and that article is truly worth reading, titled "The Mirage of Chinese Military Power." Yes, you can check it in my daily newspaper reading show. Ah, in this piece, a former commander of the US Pacific Fleet analyzes the various weaknesses of the Chinese military. He says that when it comes to attacking Taiwan, militarily it may not actually be feasible. Yes, especially with US allies like Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines right there, right? So attacking Taiwan is not an easy thing to pull off. However, regarding Taiwan's internal situation, as far as I know, many things in Taiwan are also in pretty bad shape. Taiwan's internal elections and the path this country takes are things that the Taiwanese people must decide for themselves. Yes. So I think, for the people of Taiwan, regarding the CCP's affairs, you must see its history clearly. Yes. Its essence has not changed. Perhaps for survival, for the regime to continue existing, it can make many compromises, and even engage in capitalism. Yes, and even say, alright, let's have a market economy, but it will never give up its political power. And this politics, this kind of political power, ultimately sustains its life by devouring others. Therefore, it wants to devour Taiwan, we must—how do you say it in English—that's rhythm. Mhm. Yes, this is dictated by their essence, and it also determines that you must never trust, never trust the Communist Party.

Now, because recently Zheng Liwen, you know, the Kuomintang chairperson, went to the US and was talking about things like Xi Jinping's soft-handed approach, and she also yearns for peace, giving off that feeling. Yes, she wants to project the impression that the CCP is a very peaceful regime. What do you think of such behavior?

Mhm, well, when she came to the US, almost no one paid attention to her. When she went to China—I sometimes think, the CCP has a 100-year history. Yes, it's old, crafty, and cunning. It knows very well when and in what way to buy off whom. Yes. What the CCP is best at doing regarding the West is that it quickly figures out what you want and what it can provide you if it needs you. Yes. So Zheng Liwen, well, in Taiwan she is part of the Kuomintang, and that's just how it is. She went to China, went to the CCP, gained the CCP's recognition, received receptions, and got all of this, right? Yes. So she might feel very good about herself, but think about it: what is the price you pay for getting this self-righteous feeling?

Thank you very much, Sasha, and we also encourage everyone to follow Sasha on YouTube and X. What other social media platforms can you be followed on?

Mhm. Ah, I actually don't have many, but I do a daily newspaper reading on YouTube. I don't do much else, and I don't express too many of my own opinions. Yes. Then, every day I take English newspapers and pick articles that I think are really worth reading. Yes. Those, ah, those, ah, articles, every day within about an hour, I read them all out to everyone—it's read by AI, not by me, but I select them. Moreover, I write the introductions and so on for them. Just this.

Alright, thank you Sasha, and we'll see you next time then. Ah