Letter: Persecution still rife

Understandably, China played down the anniversary of the Cultural Revolution. They were terrible years of persecution. But the narrow-mindedness of that time is still with us today, only the rhetoric has changed. Now everything is an "internal affair."

Millions of Catholics and Christians worship in secret in China. I am one of them. I have been here for several years. I have witnessed the atrocities committed in the name of the Patriotic Associations. Even journalists and bloggers are being persecuted in China.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) seems like an extremist bent on the destruction of Taiwan. He and his cohorts are doing everything possible to isolate and exclude the people of Taiwan. We are still closely watched in China. Beijing wants to control every aspect of life here, especially what people may speak about or believe. So the shameful behavior of the Cultural Revolution is still with us today.

Name withheld

Shandong, China