Liu Meixian's Father: America Will Not Be Safe Until China Is Democratic

(Central News Agency, Washington, D.C., June 4) On the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Liu Jun, father of Chinese American figure skater Alysa Liu, testified before the U.S. Congress, detailing his experience of being monitored and stalked by spies acting on behalf of the Chinese government in 2021. Liu Jun, who fled to the U.S. after the Tiananmen Square incident, stressed that "the United States will not be safe until China achieves democracy."

Today marks the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing on China's transnational repression, with Liu Jun among the witnesses. CECC is an independent commission established by U.S. law to monitor China's human rights conditions and rule of law development; its members include U.S. federal senators, representatives, and officials.

CECC Co-Chairman, Republican Congressman Chris Smith, stated at the hearing that 37 years ago, many Chinese citizens peacefully demanded political reform and democratic opening, but were met with tanks as the Chinese Communist Party deployed the People's Liberation Army to suppress peaceful demonstrators. Smith said that there is still no full accounting for those killed, imprisoned, or missing. The CPC is trying to erase this massacre that the world must never forget, "but the Tiananmen Square incident cannot be erased."

On June 4, 1989, peaceful protesters at Beijing's Tiananmen Square were brutally suppressed by the People's Liberation Army. Liu Jun, who fled to the U.S. at age 25 due to the Tiananmen incident, became a practicing lawyer and started a family. His daughter, Alysa Liu, won a gold medal at the Milan Winter Olympics earlier this year, ending the U.S. women's singles figure skating Olympic medal drought.

In his testimony, Liu Jun said that at the time of the Tiananmen incident, he was a graduate student at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and one of the core organizers of the Guangzhou democracy movement. After the incident, he organized more protests against the massacre in Guangzhou and became one of the wanted democracy advocates. After fleeing to the U.S., he continued to protest outside Chinese consulates, demanding the release of political prisoners.

Liu Jun admitted that he thought stepping onto U.S. soil would leave political persecution behind, "but events in late 2021 proved me wrong."

Liu Jun said that in 2018, when Alysa Liu was only 12 or 13, she reposted a news story about human rights abuses in Xinjiang online, and apparently the Chinese government never forgot. In 2021, Alysa Liu's excellent skating performance made it likely she would represent the U.S. at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and Liu Jun would likely accompany her, which worried Beijing authorities.

Liu Jun recalled that one day in late October or early November 2021, he received a phone call from someone claiming to be a U.S. Olympic Committee official, who asked him to fax his and his daughter's passports for international travel preparations. Liu Jun verbally agreed but never complied.

A few days later, Liu Jun received a call from the FBI. When they met, the agent informed him that a spy acting on behalf of the Chinese government had arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area to track and monitor his movements, and was attempting to collect his personal information, including passport details. The agent warned him to be careful.

Hearing this news, Liu Jun was extremely worried about his daughter's safety. At the time, Alysa Liu was competing in Japan. After she returned, he decided to take her to another city for training. As they were about to board the plane, he received another call from the FBI informing him that the spy was attempting to go to their home. He couldn't believe it, thinking it seemed like a movie plot.

Later, Liu Jun requested additional security from the U.S. government for Alysa during her participation in the Beijing Olympics. During the Olympics, she was accompanied everywhere she went. After the Beijing Olympics ended, on March 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against the spies, including one who had previously called him posing as a U.S. Olympic Committee official and monitored him.

Liu Jun expressed gratitude to the FBI agents for protecting him and his daughter, and thanked the U.S. government for taking action to prosecute the spies, but said the U.S. must do more.

He emphasized that everyone must understand: "Until China achieves democracy, the United States will not be safe." China must have a government that respects basic human rights and upholds the rule of law.

Liu Jun believes the U.S. must take a stronger stance against the Chinese Communist Party's transnational repression and human rights violations.

Smith said that what Alysa Liu wrote as a child was still firmly remembered by the Chinese Communist Party, and the resulting intimidation and threats once again highlight the ubiquity of this dictatorship. (Editor: Tian Ruihua) 1150605