Underground Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members are in all corners of Taiwan, a former member revealed in a new book.
At the launch of The Memoirs of a Hong Kong’s Underground CPC (覺醒的道路:前中共香港地下黨員梁慕嫻回憶錄) in Vancouver on Sunday, Canada-based writer Florence Mo Han Aw (梁慕嫻) shared her journey from being a loyal party member to recognizing the truth about the CCP.
Aw, 85, was born in Hong Kong and joined the Communist Youth League of China as a high-school student after being recruited by her teacher in 1955.
Photo: CNA
She then became an underground CCP member and served as chair of the Hok Yau Dancing Club from 1962 to 1974, where she was in charge of student-related affairs.
During the 1967 Hong Kong riots, she was in charge of organizing student “struggle committees” and rallies to recruit underground party members.
She wrote that the mysterious death of then-Chinese vice premier Lin Biao (林彪) in a plane crash in Mongolia on Sept. 13, 1971, shook her faith in the party.
When Aw’s mother-in-law, who was also a CCP member, became seriously ill in Vancouver, her husband was unable to obtain approval from the party to visit her.
Her husband flew to Vancouver without permission, but was labeled a traitor after returning to Hong Kong, which made her decide to move to Canada and break away from the CCP.
Since moving to North America in the 1970s, Aw has continued to closely follow the situation in Hong Kong, which has made her worry about the fate of Taiwan.
In a chapter discussing Beijing’s infiltration tactics against Taiwan, she wrote that “underground CCP members are active all over the world.”
“Taiwan is the most important place, so many of them have been planted there long ago,” she said.
China would first ensure it has people inside and outside of Taiwan working together before invading, she said.
“If these espionage activities are cut off and everyone unites against the CCP, naturally it would not dare to act rashly,” she said.
Taiwanese have been in their comfort zone for a long time, she said, warning against treating the situation lightly.
The CCP is good at propaganda and disguising it, and Beijing only shows goodwill with the sole purpose of annexing Taiwan, she said.
An English translation of the book, which is published by Taiwan’s Xin-rui Creative (新銳文創) under Showwe (秀威) Information Co Ltd, is to be published soon.
Aw expressed gratefulness for Taiwan’s freedom of speech, which made the book’s publication possible.
Chiu Chien-yi (邱建義), an official at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver, said at the book launch that “Taiwan’s smooth completion of its presidential election represents another victory for free and democratic Taiwan.”
China’s unilateral decision to change the M503 flight route last week “was a coercive and intimidating act,” Chiu said, adding that Taiwanese were unafraid and would not back down.
Other attendees at the book launch, including Hong Kong Parliament Electoral Organizing Committee chairman Victor Ho (何良懋), former Hong Kong Democratic Party adviser Simon Lau (劉細良) and former Hong Kong district councilor Mak Hoi-wah (麥海華), praised Taiwan as a “treasured land of democracy in the world.”
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College