The Daily Signal - Warning From Survivor of Mao's China: 'Communism Is Not Only Here, It's Going Mainstream'

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

Xi Van Fleet, who lived under the bloody communist rule of Chinese leader Mao Zedong, says the goal of her new book "is to lay out the parallels of the two Cultural Revolutions that I experienced—[the one] 50 years ago and the one I experience with millions of Americans right now, the woke revolution." "And I've tried to lay out the parallels, to let people see that 'woke' is nothing new. It happened before," says Van Fleet, author of the book "Mao's America: A Survivor's Warning." "What's going on in America is history repeating." Mao, who wrested control of what became the People's Republic of China in 1949, imposed his violent Cultural Revolution from 1966 until his death in 1976. "People like me, people [who] lived through the Cultural Revolution, we see through it right away. We know it is the same thing," Van Fleet says. Van Fleet joins this episode of "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss what it was like growing up in communist China under Mao, her No. 1 takeaway for those who read her book, and an excerpt published by The Daily Caller.  Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's going on in America is a communist takeover. And the goal was very clear, absolute power, just like what Mao did during the cultural revolution in China. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, November 27th. Welcome back from your Thanksgiving holiday. I'm Virginia Allen. And that was Shee Van Fleet, author of the newly released book, Mal's America, a survivor's warning. Shevan Fleet joins my colleague Samantha Escheris on today's show to discuss what it was like growing up in China under Mao Zedong. The number one takeaway she wants people to have after reading her book and much more. We'll get to Sam's conversation with Shee Van Fleet right after this. As conservatives, sometimes it feels like we're constantly on defense against bad ideas. Bad philosophy, revisionist history, junk science, and divisive politics. But here's something I've come to understand.

When faced with bad ideas, it's not enough to just defend. If we want to save this country, then it's time to go on offense. Conservative principles are ideas that work, individual responsibility, strong local communities, and belief in the American dream. As a former college professor and current president of the Heritage Foundation, my life's mission is to learn, educate, and take action. My podcast, The Kevin Roberts Show, is my opportunity to share that journey with you. I'll be diving into the critical issues that plague our nation, having deep conversations with high-profile guests, some of whom may surprise you. And I want to ensure freedom for the next generation.

Find the Kevin Roberts Show wherever you get your podcast. Joining today's episode of The Daily Signal podcast is She Van Fleet, author of the newly released book, Mouse America, A Survivor's Warning. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for inviting me. Now, I am really excited to be speaking with you about your new book, but before we do that, can you just tell us a little bit more about yourself? Yeah, I grew up in Mao's China. I spent my first 26 years there, and I lived through the

culture revolution, which took place in 1966 to 1976 when Mao died, and that was pretty much my school years. And after I graduated from high school, and there's nothing for us, for the young people. So we're all sent to the countryside to work with the peasants to get our so-called re-education. And I spent three years doing hard labor in the countryside. And by then, Deng Xiaoping took over China. He was a reformer, and he opened up university. And at age of 19, I was able to go to college and study English. And after that, I taught in a teacher's training college. In 1986, I was so lucky to get the student visa to come here to study, to pursue my graduate study, and which is English. And so I have been living in the United States since 1986.

Wow. Can you tell us a little bit more about what it was like growing up in China under Mao Zedong? Yeah, that's a big question. Yeah, yeah, do you have three days? Yeah, I don't read the book, but to describe my school years was to describe the cultural revolution. It's all about chaos. When the cultural revolution started, I just finished my, I finished my first grade. And now the first semester of my first grade. So I had like one semester of somewhat normal education. And then after the Cultural Revolution started, school was closed. Because all the school principals and administrators and teachers were oustered by the kids, the Red Guards.

So there's no school. And so there's no school for up to two years for me. But for others, they lost as many as four years, no school. And when I came back to school, and all the textbook that we used before was considered not radical enough and was banned. So, and before we had new textbook come in, and we only have one, and that was most little red book. And that's for our whole semester. That was our textbook. And we read it from beginning to the end.

and over and over, and that was my education, or to be precisely, that's my indoctrination. Now, I wanted to dive in and talk more about your book, as I mentioned, it's called Mows America, a Survivor's Warning. It was released back on October 31st. I'll be sure to leave a link in the show notes, so our listeners can check it out. Let's talk a little bit more about it. Why did you write it? Yes. There are a lot of books, I have to say. There's a lot of excellent books. A lot of them were memoirs and stories of an individual's experience, either of the Cultural Revolution, of Mao's, China, and there are a lot of history books, and you can learn about history. My book is neither.

My book is really, the goal of this book is to lay out the parallels of the two cultural revolution that I experienced 50 years ago and the one I'm excited. with millions of Americans right now, the woke revolution. And I'll try to lay out the parallels to let people see that woke is nothing new. It happened before. What's going on in America is history repeating. People like me, people lived through the Cultural Revolution. We see through it right away.

We know it is the same thing. But for two million Americans, they don't know. because they never learned history. They do not know history of communism. They know very little of Mao's culture revolution. And so they don't know what it is. They just know it's crazy. But the book that I wrote is to warn people.

This is the same thing. It is Marxist revolution. Mao's goal was to take power and, in the process, destroy the American, the Chinese. civilization, anything traditional, anything that's old, needs to be dismantled. And what we are seeing here is the same thing. A certain group of people desire power. In order to do that, they want to destroy America because that is obstacle to their power.

Same thing. And the same kind of revolution and the same goal. And the world be the same result. Most revolution destroyed China, and the war revolution, if we don't stop it, we'll destroy America and are gone with the freedom that would take so for granted. So many of us take for granted. Without giving away too many spoilers from the book, of course, we want people to buy it and read it. What is the number one takeaway you want people to have after reading your book? Yeah. Mine is not. As I said, it's not a history. It is my own experience, that I experienced, that I witnessed, and so I want people to take it more seriously, that I'm telling you from my own witness account.

And so I understand the nature of the woke revolution. And more than that, take action. And I tell the readers how I got involved being a very good. shy, and usually the Asian community are not knowing for very outspoken. We usually are kind of quiet and we do our own. We work hard, but we usually are not politically very active. How I got out of that and become engaged and now become really a voice for the anti-communist movement, really. So I want people to know that if I can do it, they can do it as well. And so not just to understand that's the first step, but really take action.

I wanted to read an excerpt from your book that was published by The Daily Caller. It reads, while China is becoming less and less like the West is becoming more and more like China. Can you talk to us a little bit about this? What did you mean by this? Yes. And you know that after the Cultural Revolution, China was at the very brink of total collapse. And I think it's already collapsed. The economy was in ruins and people lost faith in communism because they have had enough.

The Cultural Revolution destroyed everything. And that was the time that Deng Xiaoping, the next one in power, realized the only way to save China and save CCP is to bring in foreign investment. In other word, it was the capitalism that saved China's communism. So we were taught in the West that by doing, by engaging with the West, will help China to become more democratic. A lot of people believed it, and including me, I thought, as long as kids open, And when you open with trade, the idea is also coming in that I think eventually China will be more democratic,

which was what I experienced and witnessed in the early 1990s. When I went back to China, I was so amazed that people could talk open-admin to each other. They still could not talk on the media or whatever. But the discussion was going on, and people was talking about all the lives they were taught, and then they were really excited about the future that China might hold. And what happened? What happened, really? What happened is China never gave up communism.

They only now, they created a new model. And many people call it the China model. That is a Chinese dictatorship with the blood transfusion problem from capitalism. They become more totalitarian. Meanwhile, during the process, Many Western politicians actually drew for that kind of power that like Xi Jinping had. So by now we see what happened during that the exchange. And supposedly we're going to help them to be more democratic.

Now we see, especially during the COVID, we become more totalitarian. So that is a lesson. And that is a lesson that we just keep learning. and never learned it that you cannot work with communism and hoping that you will become a win situation. And as the Chinese said, they win to them is they win twice. You probably heard about it. No, you can't trust communism. The only way to do with communism is defeated, destroy it, because that was the greatest evil that we have ever seen.

And it's here. And that is the tragedy. It is here. Now, I just saw some video footage. You probably saw it, too. In the pro-Palestinian protest, we see communist flags among the protesters. Communism is not only here, it going mainstream. One thing I also wanted to ask you, this is another section of your book, another line that I wanted to highlight, that I thought was really interesting. You write, in China, Xi Jinping has revived. Mao's Cultural Revolution. In America, the progressives have launched the second phase of the counterculture revolution. When did you first notice the second phase of the counterculture revolution begin? I think there's a lot of signs, and I know it's along the way, but really, the turning point is 2020. By then, it's no longer sign. By then, it is, to me, with no doubt,

whatsoever. It was a full-blowing Marxist revolution. So to me, that was the time when I decided I have to take action and get involved. And just to circle back to the title of your book, Miles America or Survivor's Warning, what is your warning to our audience, our listeners who are tuning into this podcast? The warning is, what's going on in America is a communist takeover. And the goal was very clear, absolute power, just like what Mao did during the Cultural Revolution in China. And the result is total loss of our freedom. And what's awaiting for us is a totalitarian dictatorship. Well, thank you so much for joining us today.

Any final thoughts before we go? Please read the book. I wrote a book, not because. I want to write it. It's because I had to write it. And one of my Twitter followers said the same thing. I'm going to read it. Not because I want to read it, but I have to read it.

And I hope that's what you listeners will do. Read it, understand it, and then getting involved. And we have to save this country. Well, Shevanfleet, thank you so much for joining us today. As I mentioned, I will be sure to leave a link to your book, Mals America, A Survivor's Warning, in the show notes so our listeners can take a look at it. Thank you so much for the time. Thank you. And that'll do it for today's episode.

Thanks so much for listening to Samantha's interview with She Van Fleet, the author of Mals America, A Survivor's Warning. Make sure to take a moment today to subscribe to the Daily Signal if you have not done so so you never miss out on brand new shows. you're across all podcast platforms, and we will see you right back here this afternoon for top news. Have a great rest of your day. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Kate Shrinco.

Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.