From: Nang Magazine <nangtheky21>
Date: Sat, Oct 3, 2026 at 04:43
Multi-Ethnic "National Day of Grief" Rally in San Francisco: Calls to End Persecution, Defend Freedom and Human Rights.
Reported by Lin Ruoshui, The Epoch Times, San Francisco
At noon on October 1, people from diverse ethnicities and communities—including mainland China, Hong Kong, Tibet, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, Vietnam, and the Philippines—gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco. They held a joint protest rally titled "National Day of Grief Joint Protest: Speaking Out for Freedom, Human Rights, and Dignity," calling for an end to political persecution and transnational repression, and demanding the protection of human rights, religious and cultural freedom, and regional peace.
The event was co-organized and attended by groups including the China Democracy Party San Francisco Chapter, the Chinese Democracy Education Foundation, the Northern California Hong Kong Club, US Hongkongers Club, Bay Area Friends of Tibet, and the Asian Alliance Against CCP Occupation and Oppression. Demonstrators held various flags alongside Chinese and English banners reading: "Free Speech Is Not a Crime," "Human Rights Must Not Be Trampled," "Stop Transnational Repression," "End Political Persecution," and "For Freedom, For Human Rights, For Dignity."
Co-host Zhou Yunlong noted that while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) marks October 1 as "National Day," for many who have suffered political persecution under the regime, it is a "National Day of Grief" to remember trauma and hardship.
He outlined the rally’s core demands: restoring civil liberties, democracy, and human rights in mainland China and Hong Kong; halting religious and cultural suppression targeting Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Southern Mongolians; and ending expansionist aggression in the South China Sea while respecting neighboring nations’ territorial and maritime sovereignty.
Three Generations of Suffering — Zhao Ming: "Today, I Will No Longer Remain Silent"
Pro-democracy activist Zhao Ming, originally from Anhui Province, shared his family’s three-generation ordeal under CCP rule.
Zhao recounted that around 1960, his grandfather, grandmother, and aunt starved to death during the Great Famine. His father, only eight years old at the time, survived by roaming the streets and begging for food.
Decades later, tragedy struck his own household. In 2012, under the threat of job loss, administrative denial of household registration (hukou) for the child, and crushing fines, his wife was forced into an abortion more than four months into pregnancy, suffering severe hemorrhaging.
"I hated my own helplessness—I could not protect my own flesh and blood!" he said, his voice breaking.
Zhao stated that in 2015, he was detained by domestic security officers (guobao) for signing a petition supporting journalist Gao Yu, during which he was beaten in a police station and forced to write a confession. In 2021, his family home was forcibly demolished; both he and his elderly father were dragged outside and pinned to the ground. After futile petitions, he fled China.
Even after arriving in the United States, Chinese police continued to threaten his wife back home, warning him not to speak out abroad.
"Today, I am no longer afraid; I will no longer remain silent!" Zhao declared, stressing that without democracy, human rights, and institutional checks on power, ordinary citizens can never secure their property, freedom, or dignity.
Tibetans Remember Kelsang Namtso: Spotlighting Assimilation Policies and Cultural Preservation
Multiple Tibetan and pro-Tibet speakers addressed the survival of Tibetan religion, language, education, and cultural heritage.
Giovanni Vassallo, president of the Bay Area Friends of Tibet, emphasized that October 1 is not a day of celebration for Tibetans. He paid tribute to Kelsang Namtso, a 17-year-old Tibetan nun killed on September 30, 2006.
Namtso was among roughly 70 unarmed Tibetans attempting to cross the Nangpa La Pass into Nepal when Chinese border guards opened fire, killing her. The incident was witnessed and filmed by foreign mountaineers. Subsequent U.S. State Department reports confirmed that video evidence showed the group was unarmed and shot from behind.
Vassallo also criticized the "Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Regulations" enacted on July 1 of this year, stating that such policies heighten Tibetan fears of linguistic, religious, and cultural eradication. He added that tight information control inside Tibet prevents the outside world from obtaining verified data following natural disasters or human rights abuses.
Gangchen Wangmo, a board member of the San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (SFRTYC), focused on the Panchen Lama and the residential boarding school system.
She highlighted Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was identified in May 1995 at age six by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, only to be abducted alongside his family by Chinese authorities days later. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom still classifies his status as "Unknown," while the Chinese government claims he received an education, holds a job, and wishes not to be disturbed.
Wangmo also condemned the colonial boarding school system, arguing that separating children from their homes and native language environment endangers the continuation of Tibetan identity. Regarding self-immolation protests against Beijing’s rule, she stated that commemorating these individuals is "not to glorify death," but to ensure that in the future, no one is driven to such measures out of sheer desperation.
SFRTYC executive committee member Tendon Pema spoke from a coalition perspective, delivering a joint statement covering Tibet, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The statement called for halting cultural suppression, restoring Hong Kong’s freedoms, safeguarding peace for Taiwan, and ending transnational harassment.
Duan Jingji: Giving Voice to the Silenced in China
Duan Jingji, head of the Chinese Youth Solidarity for Tibet, highlighted the plight of member Zhang Yadi (Tara).
Zhang, who studied in France, returned to China in the summer of 2025 to visit her parents, where she was arrested and currently faces charges of "inciting secession."
Duan stated that those in free societies have a responsibility to speak not only for their own groups, but also for those silenced inside China. "I hope culture and language will not be barriers between us," she said, urging disparate communities to stand "shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand."
She concluded by reading a Chinese poem honoring political prisoners and victims of persecution, ending with the chant: "Free China."
Yang Chaoquan: Reflecting on Historical CCP Campaigns
Pro-democracy activist Yang Chaoquan addressed the 77-year history of the CCP regime through the lens of a "National Grief."
He reviewed milestones including the Land Reform, the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries, the Anti-Rightist Movement, the Great Leap Forward, the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution, and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, emphasizing the immense loss of human life and family destruction caused by repeated political purges.
"Among them were teachers, students, fathers, and mothers—perhaps our parents’ generation," he said.
Reflecting on June 4th, Yang recalled that students and residents called for anti-corruption and dialogue, only to be met with military suppression. More than 30 years later, the full death toll remains covered up by the Chinese government.
Chen Suoming: "China Belongs to the Chinese People"
Activist Chen Suoming (Albert) directed his speech toward governance structures and civil rights.
"Do not believe the Chinese Communist Party simply by what it says; look at what it actually does," Chen said.
Chen argued that the Chinese people must have the right to elect their government through open, fair elections, and that state authority must be checked by citizens, the rule of law, and a free press rather than monopolized perpetually by a single party.
"We want freedom. We want democracy. We want basic human rights," he concluded. "China belongs to the Chinese people, not to any single political party."
Vietnamese Community Highlights South China Sea Aggression
Vietnamese community representatives focused attention on maritime security and Beijing’s expansionist foreign policy.
Jack Duong, co-host and founder of the Asian Alliance Against CCP Occupation and Oppression, stated the coalition had three goals: exposing human rights abuses, defending national sovereignty and international law, and showcasing solidarity across ethnic lines. He condemned Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea, which directly encroaches upon the maritime rights of Vietnam, the Philippines, and other regional states.
Vietnamese representative Jennie Ha Phan similarly denounced Beijing’s aggressive maritime posturing, urging the international community to counter the mounting pressure placed on neighboring nations.
The 2016 South China Sea Arbitration established that China’s claims to historic rights within the "nine-dash line" have no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) where they exceed convention limits.
Phan stated that communities must unite against the CCP regime, warning that inaction will allow the authoritarian threat to grow unchecked, concluding that Beijing’s ongoing assimilation and illegal territorial overreach must be confronted globally.
Shared Demands Across Diverse Communities
Flags representing Tibet, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, and Vietnam were visible throughout the demonstration. While participants brought varied cultural, ethnic, and political perspectives, their remarks centered on common demands: ending political persecution and transnational intimidation, defending free expression and religious liberty, and sustaining international scrutiny over the Chinese government’s human rights abuses and aggressive regional policies.
Tạp Chí Nàng Thế Kỷ 21
