Romania: People in Timisoara Support Freedom and Human Rights in China

On October 5th 2005, a seminar with the title “The Collapsing Red Wall” was held in Timis Court in Romania’s second largest city, Timisoara. The seminar attracted great attention from local media, human rights organisations, academics, students and residents. Romania’s State Television carried a live interview. Local newspaper published a report entitled “In China and Romania, Communist Terrorism showed the same ugly face”.

Invited speakers included the Mayor of Timisoara, Gheorghe Ciuhandu, representative from the Epoch Times Steve Ispas, representative from the German International Human Rights Association and expert in Chinese Marketing Man-Yan Ng, Renowned Professor from the University of Timisoara Prof. Vasile Docea, Chairman of the Association of the Former Deportees in Baragan, well known democracy activist Silviu Sarafolean, Chairman of Former Political Prisoners Teofil Botlung and Chairman of the Human Rights Association and renowned author Dr. Daniel Vighi.

Located in the west side of Romania, Timisoara is a crucial gateway to the west. The movement that toppled the Romania Communist regime in 1989 started here. People in this city could receive TV signals from Italy, Hungary and Yugoslavia even under the Communist regime. They ignited the torch of the democratic movement on December 15th 1989. In a just a few days, the tide of democracy reached the whole country and on the 25th, Romania’s Communist dictatorship led by Ceausescu was toppled. The Timis Court used to house Timi’s provincial administration and is located in the Boulevard of the 1989 Revolution. When people in the city of Timisoara took over the Timi’s provincial administration council, the Timis Court became the focal point of the then democratic movement. It had a special historical significance that “The Collapsing Red Wall” seminar was held here.

The Mayor of Timisoara, Gheorghe Ciuhandu personally attended the seminar and was the first speaker. He said, “Although Romania ended the terror control of the Communist Party sixteen years ago, we have responsibility and duty to remember the suffering brought to people by the Communist Party, and to keep the will against this evil Party. This is not retaliation. This is reality.” The Mayor said that he had read the “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” and the facts pointed out in the article are not strange to him. From the article he saw the wickedness he encountered under the Romanian Communists.

Silviu Sarafolean, Chairman of the Baragan Museum and Association of the Former Deportees in Baragan, used his family’s personal experience and many other facts to expose the Communist Party’s Anti-Human nature. When he was four, his parents were sent to the forced labour camp in Baragan. Sarafolea is one of the renowned Democracy activists in Romania. He was very pleased to see the large number of people withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party.

Dr. Daniel Vighi, Chairman of the Ariergarda Cultural Society, emphasised the similarities between Ceausescu’s control and the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda machine and their evil common nature. He praised the Chinese people’s brave action of withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party.

Prof. Vasile Docea, a renowned Professor of politics and history at the Department of the Political Science in the University of Timisoara, analysed the extent of the persecution against people during the Communist Party’s Control.

Teofil Botlung, Head of the Regional Centre for Social Integration and Human Development and Chairman of the Association of the Former Political Prisoners, said that he recognised that the Communist Party was an evil organisation when he was very young. During the seminar, Mr. Botlung made a speech entitled “Another Name for the Communist Party is Murderers!”

During the free question-and-answer session, former senator Mr. Tanase P. Tavala said: “This seminar is of great educational significance. This newspaper (the Nine Commentaries in Romania) is remarkable. The Romanian Communists killed 10% of the Romanian people. The Chinese Communist murdered over eighty million people. I wish good luck to the Democratic Movement of the Chinese people.” Then he told everyone: “I will recommend to the relevant departments to designate this day this seminar to be held as an educational day in this city. We want to let people remember forever the evil history of the Communist Party. I will also recommend the Nine Commentaries to the Department of Education. This is excellent material. We will help our next generation to learn this true history.”

Representing the German International Human Rights Association was Mr. Man-Yan Ng. Mr Ng is a Marketing expert. He used his experience working in a foreign company in China to describe China’s economic reality under the Chinese Communist Party. He compared the different periods of the economic prosperity in Chinese history and the current economic development. He exposed to people the reality behind China’s current economic prosperity. After the seminar Mr. Ng was invited by the College of International Relations in the University of Timisoara to give a special seminar to the students on human rights in China. During that seminar, Mr. Ng mentioned that in order to control people’s minds, the Chinese Communist Party initiated a brutal persecution against Falun Gong. He hoped that the students would help Chinese people to rid themselves of the Chinese Communist Party’s control and make helping China becoming a democratic country as their duty.