Letter of the Chinese Writer Wang Qingmin to Pope Francis and the Holy See(First haan)

Dear

H.E. Pope Francis

Holy See and Clergy

The Catholic Church in China and in all the countries of the world

Catholic congregations and other branches of Christianity throughout the world

   My name is Wang Qingmin, I am a Chinese writer and human rights activist living in Europe. I have many things to say and wish to speak and plead openly to His Holiness Pope Francis, the Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic congregations around the world, and the clergy and believers of other branches of Christianity.

   The land of China, the sons and daughters of China, and Catholicism/Christianity have a long, long history. From 1500 years ago, during the Tang Dynasty, branches of Christianity entered China to spread the gospel. And in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Catholics officially and massively came to the fertile land of China in the far east.

   The best known of these was Matteo Ricci, a priest who traveled from the Apennines to China. This exotic emissary, who traveled thousands of miles from the Papal States on the Apennine Peninsula to China, along with his companions, transmitted Western scientific, mathematical, and philosophical knowledge, as well as astronomical calendars and geographic figures, to the Ming Dynasty in the East. The Ricci priests had a deep impression and a high opinion of the hard work, kindness, orderliness, etiquette, and all kinds of human virtues of the Chinese nation/Han people. Even though the vast majority of Chinese people were not Christians at this time.

   Mr. Matteo Ricci so appreciated the Chinese children, reflecting the Christianity advocates the doctrine of truth, goodness and beauty, God's love for the world's spirit of fraternity, and the Oriental Confucianism promotes the human virtues, the idea of love and benevolence, is the same. Both Chinese and Westerners also share the same belief in goodness and goodness of character.

   During the nearly 300 years of the Ming Dynasty, many Catholics, such as St. Francis Xaverius, Adam Schall, Gregorio Lopez, and others, also brought the Gospel and knowledge to China. Although others were not as well known as Matteo Ricci, all of them, like Ricci, contributed greatly to the cultural exchanges between China and the West with a devout heart. This is the great first wave of "Western learning". They were the link between China and the West, separated by thousands of miles, the "Silk Road of Culture". The rich culture, profound thoughts and historical memories of China were also brought to the West by them.

    Xu Guangqi, a minister and scientist of the Ming Dynasty, also converted to Catholicism, inherited and developed Western science, and publicized the Gospel of Christ. The acceptance of Catholicism in China, from officials to commoners, also reflects the spirit of tolerance of Chinese culture and the Chinese people. In China during the period dominated by Han civilization, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam were able to coexist harmoniously, learn from each other, and integrate. In this respect, China surpassed Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia at that time, and was a truly fraternal and pluralistic nation.

    Many missionaries and the Han Chinese people experienced the catastrophe of China's history at the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The details of this catastrophe are recorded in the "Tartar War Journal" by the priest Martino Martini, with the deaths of St. Francis of Assisi and other priests (Francisco Fernández de Capillas). The Emperor Yongli of the Ming dynasty at that time turned to the Holy See in a time of national crisis, wishing to bring the land and people of China to Christendom. Unfortunately, you were too far away to save them. China has been sinking ever since. But the Christian faith had already taken root in China, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement of the mid-19th century was based on Christian teachings.

After more than 200 years of brutal oppression by foreigners, Christian missionaries once again came to China on a large scale, along with the wars between the great powers and the Qing court, the end of China's "closed-door policy" and the opening of the country's gates. You organized education, established hospitals, spread science, and were the enlightened ones in modern China. However, the tragic Boxer Rebellion broke out as a result of the involvement of Christians in imperial wars, internal conflicts in China, and disputes between some of the clergy and the Chinese people. In the process, more than 200 priests and nuns of the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, unarmed men and women of peace who had devoted themselves to the education and medical care of China, were martyred. The deaths of Marie-Hermine of Jesus and her six women companions (all seven were nuns) were particularly heartbreaking. The martyrs Gregorio Maria Grassi and Santo Alberico Crescitelli are equally admirable. Their blood was spilled in China and their souls returned to heaven.

   After the tragedy of the Boxer Rebellion, you did not take revenge, but instead returned the favor by building more schools in China, spreading modern humanistic and scientific knowledge, and enlightening the people who were cruel and ignorant, hateful and even pitiful under the tyrannical rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The vastness of such a heart is so great that the lofty mountains of Asia and Europe can hardly be separated from it; and the depth of such a favor is so great that the endless streams from the Tiber River to the Yellow River can never be exhausted.

  It was with your help that China embarked on economic innovation, political revolution, and cultural renewal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, establishing Asia's first republic, the Republic of China. The Republic of China's education, medical care, and science, whose construction and development involved the participation of Catholicism, Protestantism, and other Christian forces, played a huge role and is an outstanding feat in the history of human civilization. Mr. Timothy Lee, for example, founded Shanxi University and other humanistic and industrial achievements. And many universities, high schools, and hospitals in Beijing and Nanjing, such as Yanjing University, Jinling Women's University, and Aurora University, were also founded and operated by the apostles of Jesus.

   However, later on, in order to resist imperialism and colonialism, as well as to promote the values of secularism and rationalism, and to push for national independence and social innovation, the Chinese people gradually rejected the Christian/Catholic forces in China, and many church-run schools and hospitals were converted, and religious education was weakened or even abolished. These actions were necessary from the standpoint of safeguarding China's sovereignty, defending the Chinese people's own independent values, and promoting a more progressive society. But they hurt the feelings and interests of many Catholics and other denominations who are genuinely trying to help the Chinese people.

   Later, the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan and the establishment of the Chinese Communist regime, as well as the brutal killing and persecution of the Chinese people by the Japanese invaders and the Chinese Communist ruling clique, caused the Chinese people to suffer greatly. And the previous weakening of Christian power in China left the Chinese people lacking in organizational strength, and even more deprived of a closer connection with the world and stronger foreign aid. From this point of view, the "de-Christianization movement" of the Republic of China was a mistake. In their struggle for sovereign independence and secularism, the Chinese people alienated the most sincere and selfless force in the world to help China - Catholics/Christians - which led to a greater catastrophe for China and a crippling of human civilization.

   However, while the Christian forces, including the Catholic Church, have gradually withdrawn from China, there are still many priests, nuns and Catholics/Christians who have remained in China and made amazing contributions to save and help the Chinese people. One of the most admired of these was Msgr. Wilhelmina "Minnie" Vautrin, a priest of the Society of Christ in America. She, along with other clergy, colleagues and friends, saved tens of thousands of Chinese during the 1937 Nanking Massacre perpetrated by the Japanese, especially protecting many women and children. She was the "Oskar Schindler of the East". Her diary, Weitling's Diary, has become an important record of the atrocities committed by the Japanese in Nanking. Her subsequent suicide was saddening and regrettable. Her suicide was closely related to witnessing the atrocities of the Japanese army and being treated cruelly by the Japanese army in the process of saving the refugees, so it can be said that she died for the sake of the Chinese people, and it was a tragic martyrdom.

   Another Christian woman, Nobel Prize winner for literature, Ms. Pearl Sydenstricker Buck of the United States, lived in China for decades, sharing the pain and suffering of the Chinese people. She grew up in the Jiangnan region of China, nurtured Chinese students at Jinling University, documented the lives and destinies of the Chinese people, and supported China's social reform movement and resistance against foreign enemies. Upon her return to the United States, she did not forget the Chinese people, and wrote many reminiscences and literary works with great affection. Like the poetry of the great Chinese poet Du Fu, Ms. Pearl Sai's writings are characterized by compassion and love for the people and the world. She made China understand the world and the world understand China. She is of Western origin, but a daughter growing on Chinese soil. She is the rainbow bridge between China and America, between the Confucian world and the Christian world.

    If China under the Kuomintang only weakened its influence on Christianity, the Mao Zedong era after the founding of the Chinese Communist Party almost completely removed the reality of Christianity's influence in China. Both Catholic and Protestant churches were disbanded or incorporated into the officially manipulated "Three-Self Churches" (self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating churches). Foreign missionaries were expelled and had to leave their beloved China. Many native Chinese priests and nuns were arrested and imprisoned, and were brutally criticized and humiliated in various political campaigns; some of them were killed or committed suicide.

   Among them was Bishop Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin-mei of the Catholic Diocese of Shanghai, who was falsely accused of being a "counter-revolutionary" and sentenced to life imprisonment. He remained steadfast in his faith in prison, refusing to compromise his confession of guilt, and was imprisoned for thirty years until he regained his freedom under Deng Xiaoping. After his release and departure from China, he continued to campaign for religious freedom in China. His resilience and tenacity, with the spirit of sacrifice of a Christian and the moral fiber of an oriental scholar, commanded great respect.

  Ms. Lin Zhao, the Chinese political protestor who defied death and challenged Mao Zedong during the frenzied political storms of the Cultural Revolution, was also a Christian (or at least was at one time a Christian). Because of the limited documentation she left behind, it is difficult to know her detailed views on Christianity. But perhaps it was Christian thought and culture that gave her spiritual support and solace in her tenacious struggle against the Red totalitarian regime and her challenge to Mao Zedong at the height of his "Red Sun". Her long poem "The Day of Prometheus' Crucifixion" is an indictment of the brutal Greek king of gods, Zeus, through the mouth of Prometheus, just like the Bible's denunciation of the devil, Satan, and the repeated evil deeds of the earthly tyrant, Mao Zedong. She was eventually executed, and a seat of honor was given to her, both on the earth of China in this world and in the exotic heavens of Christianity.

  And throughout the Maoist era, because of political campaigns and military repression, famines, and extreme policies of all kinds, more than 50 million people died unnatural deaths in China, at least 3 million of whom were killed outright. These tens of millions of deaths included huge numbers of women, children, disabled people, vulnerable people of all kinds, but also Christian priests, nuns, and ordinary Christians. These lives were destroyed using extremely brutal and humiliating methods. What a tragedy! The survivors were also often disabled, deranged, numbed and stripped of their dignity, and these injuries continue to poison the Chinese people to this day. It is a sight from hell, the greatest and most neglected holocaust since mankind entered the age of civilization. It is not only a man-made disaster for China, but also a disgrace for the whole world.

   The economy, culture and people's livelihood were also greatly damaged during the Mao era, and extreme poverty gripped the entire Chinese mainland. Both traditional Chinese morality and culture, as well as Western Christian culture and the modern civilization of democracy and science, were greatly destroyed during the Mao era, and the harm continues to this day. This is the same (and in some ways even worse) damage that the great Han Chinese nation has suffered in modern times than the Japanese invasion, and the Chinese civilization has suffered a devastating blow. Since the Manchu period, China has once again lagged behind the West and other prosperous countries such as Japan, and has once again closed its doors to the world for a long time. China sank for a long time, and the consequences of that time have had an irreversible effect on the present. All the evils of today's China can be traced back to the origins of the evils created during the Maoist era.

After the reform and opening up, China has gradually come out of the rampage and extreme perversity of the Maoist era, and the Christian faith has been restored in China. But the Communist Party of China (CPC) still suppresses freedom of religious belief. And there are widespread human rights violations in China. This state of affairs continues to this day.

   When I talk about these histories, I am not just talking about history. I am telling the story of the long history of Catholicism's relationship with China as an introduction and a link to ask the Holy See, the Catholic Church, Christians of all denominations, and all justice-loving people in the world to come together to change the status quo in China, to promote human rights in China, and to save the suffering Chinese people.

   In contrast to the more enlightened and hopeful periods of Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, in the last ten years, the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party has become more and more cruel and merciless. And the Chinese people have suffered more in recent years.

  Since 2013, the ruling clique led by Xi Jinping has torn off the mask of the CCP's enlightenment and conducted an intensive and forceful sweep of civil society, banning speech and the media, persecuting political protesters, and using torture, imprisonment, and harassment against defiant people and various vulnerable groups. Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, Guo Feixiong, and Hao Jinsong are four of the most typical prisoners of conscience. The "zero-zero" policy of countering the new crown virus has led to a widening and deepening of human rights abuses in China, an economic recession, massive unemployment and bankruptcy, and frequent instances of vicious violence. ......

   Under Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China (CPC), blue-collar workers in China work in "sweatshops" that lack labor protection and require years of overtime work, while white-collar workers are required to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, or "996";

    Farmers in China not only have to do heavy labor, but most of them are also very poor, earning less than 1,000 yuan (about 130 euros) a month, with a pension of only 100 yuan (about 15 euros) a month for those over the age of 60;

   Secondary school students in most parts of China (especially in Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Hunan provinces) are required to study from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., during which time their meal breaks are strictly limited, and they can only take a day off every two weeks;

    Many of China's service workers, especially self-employed and domestic workers, have no dignity and serve vested interests like servants, and many are evicted by city administrators, bullied and even sexually abused by their employers;

   Women in China, most of whom have experienced victimization and injustice, and some of whom have suffered chronic domestic violence, have no recourse and are in despair. They are also subjected to various forms of discrimination and oppression at school and at work (including domestic work), and are unable to obtain the status, dignity, pay and even a basic sense of security commensurate with their efforts;

   The majority of persons with disabilities in China are unable to go out on the streets because the environment is so inhospitable that they are forced to live at home, where they are often subjected to violence and abuse by their families.

   The vast majority of China's population, without freedom and happiness, survives for the sake of survival, and social security, such as education, health care, housing, and retirement, is lacking or of low quality. Young and middle-aged people spend half their lives earning money to pay off their mortgages, and when someone becomes seriously ill the whole family often loses all their money, and many elderly people commit suicide because they cannot afford to pay for their old age and medical care;

......

   All this should be changed. China has a glorious history, the Han people and the Chinese civilization, which has made great contributions to the progress of civilization in China, Asia and the world. But then, because of internal oppression and external invasion, it suffered greatly and went astray.

   In the face of China's plight and the suffering of its people, I have learned about, observed, and sought help from many governments and civil society organizations, hoping that people from all over the world would help the Chinese people. But what I got in return was generally indifference and rejection. I have also come to realize that all countries, ethnic groups and organizations in the world are often self-interested, including many organizations that claim to be human rights advocates, but do not really care about human rights, and even lie for their own selfish purposes, undermine others to benefit themselves, and have double standards.

   Some forces in the United States, Japan, and Europe (from government officials to civil society organizations) are even interested in supporting the "low human rights" CCP, which is more conducive to their own interests than the democratization of China. In addition, they are more eager to focus on the human rights issues in the peripheral areas of China, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, etc., while ignoring the interests of the Han Chinese people in mainland China, who account for more than 90% of China's population. They even intentionally foster the minority ethnic groups in order to contain the main ethnic groups. This also shows the selective and utilitarian nature of their human rights concerns. As for the various human rights organizations, although they are more concerned about human rights issues than the governments, their general stance on the China issue is also the same.

  And Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Uyghurs, and Tibetans, all of whom are also centrally concerned about their own independence and freedom, are not concerned about the human rights of the Han Chinese in mainland China, and sometimes have a strongly hostile attitude. Although the Han Chinese in mainland China do have some conflicts with them, most of them are coerced and instigated by the Chinese Communist regime, rather than the spontaneous and independent behavior of these Han Chinese based on Han nationalism.

   Today's China is dominated by forces concentrated in Beijing and the northern part of the country, and the Han Chinese people in the center and south of the country are just a tool for the regime to suck blood and use to check and balance the ethnic minorities, and ultimately, the privileged groups of the CCP reap the benefits. Many of the violent and insidious words and actions, lack of compassion and barbaric behaviors of the Chinese people in recent decades (including today) are also influenced by the "Manchurian/Mongolian values" of the North/Inner Asian region and not by the characteristics of the Han Chinese people themselves.

  The brutal oppression of the Chinese Communist regime internally and its hostility to the West and the civilized world externally are also the work of the powerful elite of the Chinese Communist Party, the successors of the Manchurian regime and the pro-Japanese elements that hold the power and the right to speak, and not the true will of the Chinese people at large. The Chinese people, the Han Chinese people, like the Han dynasties in history and the Republic of China, are very close to the West and are willing to accept the values of democracy, freedom and human rights and to integrate into the world.

   Under such circumstances, the approximately 1.3 billion Han Chinese citizens in mainland China, as well as the Chinese exiles scattered all over the world and the middle- and lower-class overseas Chinese, have become the most oppressed, the most dispersed, the most neglected, the most incapable of defending their rights, and the most voiceless of the ethnic masses.

   As a result of the interruption of the construction of the Han Chinese nation in history and the destruction of civil self-organization by the present-day CCP regime, these more than one billion Chinese are in a state of fragmentation, lack of faith, lack of organization and solidarity, indifference and even ridicule to the suffering of others, and zero-sum competition and even victimization of each other. Every person is a potential enemy, every small group is a mutual enemy, every small group is a mutual enemy, and every moment people are in the process of calculating and fighting with each other. Every day there are miniature "wars" between people in China (most of them are bloodless, but they are damaging others in a bloodless way), and there is no peace and tranquility. There is no peace and tranquility. The spirit of the Chinese people is also poor and inferior. The once glorious Chinese civilization and national spirit, which has been destroyed by repeated internal oppression and foreign invasions, and by the Communist Party's ban on freedom, is hard to see in the majority of Chinese people today.

   There are also some Chinese, Han Chinese, who, although they have faith, have embraced cults and extremist religious sects, believing in conspiracy theories, which are contrary to universal values and the Christian pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty. Moreover, many Chinese who have gone to live overseas are still scattered, equally faithless or misguided, and have become fans of extremism and conspiracy theories.

   Accounting for nearly one-fifth of the world's population, these more than one billion Chinese/Han Chinese/Chinese live and die in confusion, pain, despair, and numbness.

   As a member of this billion-plus Chinese, I have personally experienced and know firsthand the hurt, isolation, and despair that this ethnic group is experiencing. The world's most populous ethnic group has been subjected to such a grave injustice and has been neglected or intentionally ignored by the world. I am very saddened, angry and concerned.

  It is in this situation that I thought of Christianity, Catholicism, of Pope Francis and the Holy See. I think that perhaps you are the only force that can save China and help the Han Chinese and overseas Chinese.

   As a writer focusing on current social affairs and international politics, I have often heard of the name and deeds of the current Pope, His Holiness Pope Francis, and I have great admiration for and highly agree with His Holiness's position and practice of open-mindedness and progressivism, his great concern for the underprivileged, his respect for science and reason, and his tolerance of different faith groups.

   In my mind, His Holiness Pope Francis today is the most progressive religious leader in the history of the world, and one of the greatest and most humanitarian religious figures. Among the religious figures of recent centuries, only the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, can be compared to him, and no one else. I am impressed by Pope Francis' ability to transcend fundamentalism and break through the obstacles of old-fashionedism in a climate of conservatism in the religious world, to uphold progressive values, to place humanity and human rights above religious dogma, and to work for a peaceful, progressive and inclusive world.

   I also know that Pope Francis has a uniquely favorable view of China, and his statements, policies, and positions show that he is the religious leader closest to the Chinese people. As the world's largest developing country, China is home to many people who are suffering from bullying, material and spiritual poverty, and are in need of care and assistance. This social situation in China is similar to that in Latin America, where the Pope comes from. A "liberation theology" based on the demands of the common people and the realities of life is more realistic, more responsive to the tides of the times, and more conducive to the relief of the suffering people than a conservative ideology that emphasizes the observance of religious precepts and traditions.

  In recent years, China and its people have been increasingly isolated from the world by the combined evils of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the international right-wing anti-Chinese and anti-China forces. Against this background, it is precious that Pope Francis has been able to break through all kinds of obstacles, defy pressure and criticism, and extend an olive branch to the Chinese people, sowing God's love to this land of poverty and violence. In Chinese proverbs, "a long drought finds sweet rain", "sending charcoal in the snow", and "seeing true love in a crisis", have made the Chinese people, who have experienced countless trials and tribulations and who live in indifference, feel sincere and fervent love. love. All Chinese people, whether they are Catholics, Christians, believers in other religions, or atheists, are objects of Jesus' love, and are God's accepting and gracious people.

   As for compromising with the CCP and the Chinese government in the process of reaching out to the Chinese people, I fully understand and even support that. In any case, the CCP is the de facto ruler of China today. If one wants to spread the Gospel and help the Chinese people, one cannot bypass the CCP in power; nor is it possible to develop the strength of the Catholic Church in China on one's own without the assistance of the Chinese government. Faced with such a reality, compromise is necessary, wise and great. And even for the forces of evil, for all kinds of villains, it is necessary to show tolerance and friendliness, which is the true meaning of Jesus' spirit of tolerance.

   (It is only such compromise that should be justified, and should focus on improving the well-being of the Chinese people, both now and in the long run, while finding ways to avoid being utilized by authoritarian regimes as a tool to consolidate their tyrannical rule. In addition, I also hope that the Pope and the Holy See will understand that the Chinese Communist regime is not a left-wing progressive regime, but a right-wing social Darwinist, internal colonialist regime, which is merely wearing the cloak of "communism". It has great contempt for human rights, especially the rights of vulnerable groups.)

   I also have nothing against the "Three-Self Church" (autonomous, self-supporting and self-propagating Church), which is officially recognized by the Vatican. In their interpretation of doctrine and values, the "Three-Self Churches" tend to be liberal, emphasizing the spiritual consolation of religion and not interfering in the daily lives of believers, without becoming fundamentalist and extremist.

On the contrary, many "independent churches", "house churches", and "underground churches", which are not officially recognized by China or by the Vatican, although opposing authoritarianism and communism, are It is extremely conservative, extreme, fundamentalist, and manipulative of the faithful, rejecting secular life, emphasizing personal loyalty to the bishop, opposing women's rights and LGBT rights, believing in conspiracy theories, rejecting science and modern medicine, and supporting corrupt political ambitious people like Donald Trump. Many of China's political opponents are members of such churches, hold far-right conservative values, and believe in conspiracy theories. They have gone astray in another way in order to oppose the CCP dictatorship. This is sad and deplorable. (Of course I am not saying that this is true of all "independent churches", clergy, and believers, but it is certainly common.)

   The poor value orientation and behavioral patterns of China's "independent churches" show that they are by no means a reliable force for the future development of Christianity in China, for the building of civic self-organization, or for the salvation of the Chinese people.

   It is not only the values and behaviors of the "independent churches" in China that are disappointing, but also the political forces in China as a whole, whether it is the official party and government of China, or the various political opposition organizations and individuals.

   The political democratization, cultural modernization, and civic organization of China have been greatly undermined by the colonial rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Japanese invasion, and the authoritarian dictatorship of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in modern China. The series of political campaigns and violent crackdowns initiated during Mao Zedong's time, especially the brutal destruction of the Cultural Revolution, interrupted China's national cultural inheritance, destroyed its ideological foundation, alienated society, and distorted people's hearts and minds. After the reform and opening up, the proliferation of profit-oriented and egoistic thinking has also poisoned the hearts and minds of the people and corrupted the country and the nation. The CCP has also long suppressed freedom of speech and freedom of the press, banned the public existence of civic organizations independent of the regime, and persecuted conscientious resisters.

   Against such a background, Chinese people generally lack normal knowledge and common sense; many do not have the basic ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and are even more devoid of conscience and a sense of responsibility; they have no beliefs or principles; they have no moral bottom line in either their thinking or their actions; they are generally cynical and social Darwinist; they are greedy and unscrupulous in competition involving private interests; they are numb to the public interest; they worship the strong and violent; they discriminate against and The weak are discriminated against and abused. Society as a whole is in a state of "mutual victimization".

  Even those Chinese who oppose authoritarianism are often mirror images of the CCP rulers, opposing China's authoritarianism and dictatorship but embracing the extremism and populism of other countries and ethnic groups, and with a strong tendency toward anti-intellectualism. They even hate their own blood, insult their own motherland, and hate their own compatriots (instead of just opposing the CCP and the ruling clique). How sad and pathetic this is.

   Such Chinese people are obviously incapable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of saving the Chinese people and bringing China out of darkness and into the light. Even if they overthrow the present CCP dictatorship, they will only pull China into another dark abyss, which will be even more horrible than today's China, and the suffering of the Chinese people will be even worse than it is now.

   Moreover, the Chinese people today, especially the Han Chinese, do not have a large enough organizational force to form a large and realistic influence. People are scattered, disorganized and atomized. Instead of providing normal protection and services, the CCP persecutes them and makes these dispersed Chinese people suffer even more.

   For example, during the Xin Guan epidemic outbreak, the CCP committed a series of human rights violations, such as restricting people's personal freedom, extorting people's finances by way of epidemic prevention, and depriving vulnerable groups of the opportunity to earn a living. However, because the people had no ability to organize themselves, it was difficult for them to resist, and they could only be manipulated. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been living in "prison" for three years under the policy of "city closure" and "isolation". Although mass protests broke out at the end of 2022 and led to the end of the "zero" policy, they were short-lived. Today, the Chinese continue to suffer in their own "islands" of isolation. Even if some human rights organizations are willing to help the Chinese, the Han Chinese, they are too small and weak in relation to the extremely large Chinese population.

   The only ones, then, who can take on the heavy responsibility of saving more than a billion Chinese and freeing the fertile eastern land of Asia and Europe are the world's Catholic forces dominated by the Holy See and the Christian churches throughout China recognized by the Vatican. Although Christianity and the Catholic Church also have a history tainted by war and oppression, they have become a great positive force for world peace and democracy from the eve of the end of the cold war to the present.

    In fact, I am personally an atheist and do not follow any religion. But after many years of life's trials and tribulations, and having seen many people and events, especially the deep-rooted flaws of human nature and the limitations of changing reality with secularist thinking, I have gradually come to understand the necessity of religious faith, the piety of many Christian clergymen in saving the world, and the contribution of the Catholic Church to modern China and the world. Even Marx, one of the founders of communist ideology, said, "Religion is the sigh of suffering beings, the love of the heartless," affirming the value of religion and its positive significance for the common people.

    The many secular and left-wing revolutions and missteps of the 20th century have led to many disasters. Communist revolutions, claiming to represent the workers and peasants and under the banner of liberating all mankind, caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of people and gave rise to many totalitarian and tyrannical states. The Soviet Union, Red China, North Korea and Cambodia, in the name of "revolution" and "liberation", all wantonly killed, destroyed literature and ravaged civilization. What they did far exceeded the tragic consequences of persecution by religious forces in the Middle Ages.

   When the communist movement and the resulting riots and wars left the world in shambles, there were many remaining dictators, authoritarian "leviathan" machines, and disillusioned masses. China is a typical example. Such a country and its people are in the greatest need of hearing the Gospel, of being helped, of being reborn. For the Catholic Church, its priests and nuns, such lands and peoples are also fertile, untapped ground, with the greatest potential for the expansion of Christian civilization.

   The Bible says: "It is not the healthy who seek a doctor, it is the sick who are in need (Luke 5:31-32)." The people here are in desperate need of salvation. I have already recounted the dire conditions of the Chinese people's existence in the last decade under Xi Jinping's rule. Behind these simple generalizations is the loss of dignity and the destruction of the lives of countless people. Everything has a soul, and whether according to Christian teachings or other religious or non-religious values, life is the most precious thing, and human souls and dignity are also precious.

In China, however, the rights of the human being are trampled upon, and the defenceless people are submissive and insensitive, or they transfer their suffering to the weaker ones, such as violence against women and children, and cruelty to small animals such as cats and dogs, which do not speak the language of human beings. People have no trust in each other, treat others with malice, and use harm rather than love as a way of treating others (especially those with different positions and interests). This situation can be clearly perceived both in the real world and on the Internet. And all sorts of tragedies are happening on a large scale.

   The Chinese workers who lost their jobs in the recession, the working class people who bought "rotten buildings" and became heavily indebted, the elite middle class people who went bankrupt because of the stock market crash, the take-away workers who knelt down to the police when their electric cars were impounded, the high school students in Jiangsu who jumped off a building under the pressure of their studies and family feuds, the depositors in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, who were beaten up in their attempt to recover the deposits that had been embezzled by the bank, the people who had only 150 yuan (approximately US$150) a month to pay for their education, and the people who were beaten up by the police when their money was stolen from them. old people in rural areas who receive a monthly pension of only 150 yuan (about 20 euros), political prisoners who are humiliated and abused in prison and their families whose freedom is restricted, women who are chained sick and raped and abused for long periods of time in Fengxian County, Xuzhou, and cats in the many videos of abused cats circulating on the Internet ...... are experiencing what appear to be different, but which are all in essence suffering caused by systematic persecution.

   The stifling of freedom of expression makes it difficult for people to voice their suffering and accuse injustice; the blocking of citizens' self-organization makes it impossible for people to unite in resistance; and under the education of fools, people can't distinguish right from wrong, black from white, don't know the root cause of the tragedy, don't know how to reflect on it, and don't have the will or power to change it. Many people have become insensitive and cynical, and can only resist passively by "lying down". This can not shake the reality, but only let the nation continue to sink, the vulnerable groups more helpless. Many others have joined the darkness and become new evil-doers, allowing "coma" and "rape" to continue to spread.

   The seemingly orderly China is full of violence and insidiousness. The apparent peace is based on violence and a surveillance system that suppresses the publicizing of evil. Beneath the appearance of peace and order is widespread disorder. Both the real Chinese society and the spiritual world of the Chinese people are in a state of collapse. Ethics and rationality no longer play a role, leaving only the animalistic nature of biological instincts and desires to dominate people's perceptions, words and deeds.

    If this continues, China will become a giant "Sodom", where everyone will become a victim of others' harm, and everyone will become a sinner who harms others, and hell will be just like that. If China cannot be made normal, and if Chinese people cannot be pulled out of the abyss of sin, all kinds of ugliness will spread to the world in various ways, and all mankind will become corrupted. The Bible says, "The Lord never likes the wicked to perish, but he likes the wicked to be made right and to leave their evil ways (Zech. 33:11)." Does God want to see the Chinese people perpetuate their depravity? What's more, in the midst of extreme suffering and mutual victimization, there are many good and steadfast people, such as doctor Gao Yaojie, lawyer Xu Zhiyong, and human rights activist Guo Feixiong ...... There are quite a lot of righteous people in China, far more than just one Rhodes in Sodom.

    I am also urgently requesting this because there is a major crisis facing China and the world, in the future. That is global weather anomalies caused by climate warming and inducing all kinds of disasters. In recent years, there have been many climate crisis-related disasters in China and around the world, such as floods in central China's Henan province, droughts in Sichuan, "pyrexia" in southern China, and floods in Southeast Asia and South Asia, which have caused far more deaths and damage than previous droughts and floods. Even in the developed United States and Europe, climate anomalies have caused thousands of deaths.

   In recent years, the climate crisis has been rapidly intensifying, with many parts of the globe recording some of the highest temperatures ever recorded by mankind, and a growing number of climate crisis-related disasters. China is not only affected now, but will be one of the hardest hit areas in the world in the future. According to available information and scientific inference, including reports from the United Nations and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, as well as public statements made by U.N. Secretary General Guterres, the process of global warming is already out of control, and larger-scale natural disasters are inevitable in the future. In the future, there will be high temperatures, floods, droughts, and epidemics of a magnitude and scope never before seen in history throughout China. At that time, it is entirely possible that hundreds of millions of people across China will be in danger of dying on the same day.

  However, the Chinese government avoids the issue of the climate crisis and its dangers, and even denies the existence of climate warming in disguise, and when it is really difficult to deny it, it tries its best to downplay the dangers of the climate crisis. Under the control of public opinion and relative isolation, Chinese citizens also lack awareness of the harms of the climate crisis, and like some people in Europe and the United States, they hold the "warming denial theory". The Chinese government is also clearly not a responsible regime, and with its lack of transparency and persecution of its people, it is hard to believe that it will be able to protect the Chinese people who will suffer so much in the future under the climate crisis.

   Moreover, if the climate crisis causes large areas of China (especially the densely populated southeast and north China) to become disaster-prone and uninhabitable, and many parts of the world to become uninhabitable, global mega-migration, domestic violence and international wars over resources, and human beings killing each other will inevitably occur. The Chinese people, who have long been isolated from the world and alienated from the international mainstream society, will be the only ones to bear the disaster and all kinds of secondary injuries.

   If the Chinese government abandons its people, and if the Chinese people lack the ability to self-organize and have poor relations with other countries and ethnic groups, it is very likely that these more than a billion lives will be lost in the floods, in the dry land, in the scorching heat, struggling desperately, fighting for each other's life-savings, and killing each other. The ugliness of human nature will also be exposed to the fullest extent in the natural and man-made disasters. It will be tens of thousands of times more ugly than the crimes caused by climate disasters since Katrina. It's a scene from hell.

   That is why the Chinese need the early intervention of the Catholic Church all the more. If the Chinese people join the Church in general, with the assistance of priests and nuns, form self-organization of citizens, and establish friendly and trustworthy ties with various ethnic groups in various countries around the world, they will be able to cope with the climate crisis and related disasters with ease. In future international migration and competition, the Chinese will also be able to receive fair treatment and humane protection with the help of Christian power.