CHINA SCHOOLTEACHER TELLS OF COMMUNIST RULE

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26511, 28 August 1951, Page 6

CHINA SCHOOLTEACHER TELLS OF COMMUNIST RULE

tip V/ILKNTLVK STAff In the •Christian Science Monitor"! (Reprinted by Arrangement.)

Hong Kong, July 22.—"1n the beginning they were very civil. They were falling over backward to show us how considerate they could be,” said the schoolteacher. She had just come out of Communist China and was marvelling at this strange new world of Hong Kong. “They were ‘liberators'—and they never let us forget it. They came In as if they were the people’s friends. But little by little they put on the pressure. If you 'wash your mind’ as they say, if you go over to them, you are qualified to hold yoUr position. “That clause in the Atlantic Charter, ‘Freedom from fear,' used to seem Strange to me. NOW I have learned about fear. I shall never forget those haunted faces. The parents are afraid. It is being dinned into the young people that the child doesn’t belong to the parents; it belongs to the State. A little authority goes to the children’s Jeads. They'Ve become brazen and will efy anybody. I've seen them striking Old people. “In Some parts of China young boys are posted aldng the roads to stop travellers and inspect their papers and belongings. If you don't stop, they throw stones; if you’re on a bicycle they toss sticks into the wheels. “Lying and deceit are encouraged, ’ the schoolteacher Went on. (She must be nameless because her friends are still in the hands of the Chinese Communists—and they have taken revenge on friends of others who have talked.) “It was tragic to see what was being done to the children’s minds—the poisoning and perverting. “The whole army is made up of young people. They have a spy system among themselves. A soldier of a eolitical cadre worker will not come > your house alone. They are always ih twos. They don’t trust one another. One is constantly checking and watching on the other.

Propaganda Bookshops “One of the first things the Communists opened up in our town wa* bookshops—full Of propaganda. Our school textbooks were changed. They ‘adjusted’ the curriculum and cut the teaching hours in half. And most of the few remaining hours I couldn’t teach aflyhOW because we had to attend meetings run by a government representative. “The children, like children anywhere, loved to get out of class. But after a while several of the older girls came to me and said, 'I want to stay for proper lessons. When are we going to learn something?’ They didn’t dare say it opehly. Any girl expressing such a thought would be reported and her life wouldn’t be worth living. “People ate told to keep moving if they stand talking in the town where I lived. Every night at 9.30 a whistle blows and everyone has to get off the streets.

“Students are out parading all day and beating drums. The clenched fist ahd the hammer and sickle are everywhere. In the parades the 'cheer leaders.’ as we’d call them, go through the ranks and all the hands go up in the clenched-flst gesture. We even had a parade in hofiour of the 33rd birthday of the Russian Air Force. “I got along very well with my students. We were always laughing and talking and playing games after school. I loved them and was very close to them. Starting last term, though, I noticed the change. There was one class of 15-year-olds in which was a group of girls belonging to the New Youth Movement. The members of the movement are very specially trained. They are dedicated to the 'cause.' This little nucleus had been instructed to get me out. "On the surface we continued to be friendly, but little by little the hostility grew. It blazed up when I was telling a fanciful little story about poverty. Poverty was personified as an old woman who bargained with Death so that she might die when she chose to die. ‘So you see, we still have poverty with US. Iti every country in the world poverty exists.' I concluded. “ ‘No! No! Not ih Russia! Because the paper says there's no poverty in Russia.’ they gasped. “ ‘All right, we’ll talk about something else,’ I said quickly. “I knew of another teacher whose class wf s talking of unemployment in the United States of America. This

teacher unsuspectingly . a tg , that's propaganda.’ It was IiTTI-Jj Ing an ammunition dump wT*" arrested, and at a big trial' in * • theatre he was condemned ? students. “ 1 “He's not allowed to tench and is threatened with his case kS taken up by the Government Th. ? of the staff have been allowed tn* China, but he cannot get permit?” He had to move out of his houm 1 is confined to a little corner he’s forbidden contact with foreigners. "to “Land Reform” "So long as the Chinese near..,, not interfered with, can tend huS*? have his food and a corner in whSr sleep, he is happy. But now L* stripped. This ‘land reform' M call it, has killed off the landlord/!! the land has been divided amon«i? poor—but the crops are still Lc away. "to “ ‘This is yours. Develop it tn *. utmost,’ the peasants are instiW and patriotic speeches are mJE? them. I was in an area where fornL there was enough food and the farS could relax a little between Now they are in the fields fromdSE to long after dusk and, in softs mJ the extra work, the farmer f family get barely enough rice tote them and no more. "All the government concerns te. become very efficient. This ft ehtirely due to the Communists-/! that the country doesn't have war disrupting its services them i time to fix things. The railways. «! power plants, the telegraph offices m working smoothly. The worked J have to take indoctrination fISMM * “The executions were introduced a our district early this year. They bees with an influential man who one* K connexions with Chiang lUi-ihS! party. They made a terrible reectel of him. This was to become the um method. “Our school had just closed for tu holidays. However, instead S £ children being sent home, the Ona. munists announced there would **\ vacation school. They said the ehildre were not obliged to come but itw strongly recommended.’ “They made use of that vacate school to tell the youngsters ate the ‘bandit leader.’ There wef* ate 1900 students, organised in gfoupiy ten. Each small group had it* *te man, and a police representative directed the discussion. ■ “They’d discuss the accused man lessly—how wicked he had been;h much harm ahd suffering he ta caused; how he deserved puniaha*. For days it went on. After they’d fw welded and prepared to come t* tit right conclusions, the group* sta formed groups of 100 and then ft subject was discussed again. At th end of a couple of week* at ftk everyone was convinced the ait should be killed.

“A hill was selected a* th* denunciation site and thousand, gathered there—every mother, grandmother, father and child, all the workers from every department at the government, all the tradespeople. Il was quite a scene, this huge mu surrounded by a circle of Red soldien

! with their guns The prisoner had ■ been told beforehand, ‘Just tell ths ‘ truth and you'll have nothing to fest. ' If you worked for the KMT say so; • there's nothing to fear.’ i “He was brought before the crowd and answered 'Yes’ unhesitatingly in very clear tones to the questions. Thea the cry went up, ‘ls he not worthy o! severe punishment?’ Every voice fans back, 'He is worthy of it!’ 'What kind of punishment shall We give him’ 1 ‘Re should be killed.’ Then each group rra asked in turn ‘What doss the representative of the schools think’ ‘What does the representative of the shopkeepers think?’ "It went on and on. with just out answer each time. The crowd w allowed to thrash the bound men ui then he was shot. That was th* begin nittg. Later the Victims WeM cftn taken back to gaol for two or thre days after their public ‘trial’ and ft first beating. Then they would h brought out again for a second. « perhaps even a thifd beating before they were shot. “This is What communism is doingte China.”