How The CCP Broke A Fathers Spirit

Amy introduces her friend Steve, her old school mate, who now lives in the US. They were sent to the re-education camp together. She mentions that he was very shy when they were young. Amy recalls going to the clinic to get some medicine, but being stopped by a flooded river when she returned to the labor camp. She waved to her friend Steve. He held out a branch to help her across. It was a harrowing experience, when the branch was lost. Years later, Amy asked him what really kept him going. His answer was "humiliation". Then he told her a story from his life. Steve's father had been an engineer in the West, but in 1943 decided to return to China to help fight the Japanese. Because of his language skills, he was assigned to the Special Technical Co-operative Organization, which was a joint project between the US and China. After the war, he returned to Shanghai to be a camera engineer. Steve's father, who was never interested in politics, married and had two children. After the Communists took over, the Special Technical Co-operative Organization was condemned as anti-communist and foreign imperialist. There was a concerted propaganda effort to portray the organization as torturing communists. Steve's father was arrested and sent to prison in 1952 and his family was labeled "anti-revolutionary". In 1981, Steve's father was released. Very old and having suffered greatly, he was hardly able to speak. Steve attempted to migrate the family to Canada, but his father did not want to go. He didn't want to explain his life to anyone. He eventually relented and with a broken spirit, he lived in Canada until 1991.