BREAKING: Ma Long & Fan Zhendong boycott CHINA OPEN!

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I'm the one saying things without evidence? Apparently personal experience does not account for any evidence. I think your views are very biased. Where is your evidence to agree with Baal's comments? You have no opinions supported by facts to make your own opinion without piggy backing off others. Baal has genuine experience with the matter so his opinions are valid but I don't agree with his offhand way of expressing it but maybe he expects people to understand both sides of the discussion. This is a perfect example of why I got irritated in the first place because people such as Tropical only scratch the surface to get information (i.e. just listening to what others have to say) without an interest to search for deeper for information and use it as an excuse to make them seem knowledgeable. If you want to have a valid opinion you need to have supporting evidence, not just ride off others.

Just found out about this crazy development today and spent a few hours catching up, reading this thread, YouTube, and Chinese sites. I'm as concerned about the trio of ML/FZD/XX as others who participated (coaches and players). ML/FZD/XX are the most famous, which makes them bigger targets but the fame may also somewhat save them. On the other hand, the other players and coaches are smaller targets, but they also don't have the fame and fan base to protect them.

When I say "concerned" I don't mean they might get physically harmed, but rather their career quietly destroyed. And I don't think all of them will get the same treatment. Probably the few that are the most stubborn, or who are already not favored, might face the most severe outcome. Again, total speculation.

Now, what made me feel compelled to sign up for an account to post, is the somewhat heated exchange about China's censorship and authoritarian governing style. This entire subject is about, I hope most here agree, a negative aspect of the Chinese government. It's an area that has much room for improvement. As such, there is no need to accuse someone of spreading negativity or presenting one-sided story. This is a very specific topic, and no one is saying China is all about this. If during a discussion of guns someone says "The US has more gun-related crimes and accidents than most countries", and an American jumps up and argues "Why are you only talking about the bad things about America?", wouldn't that feel silly to you?

Lastly, I enjoyed reading the personal stories from you guys. So here is my story. It is far from a typical experience, mind you. Many details are omitted, but if you need a time frame, just know when I was in middle school in China, many students had cell phones. You don't have to believe my story, but I hope you at least get entertained reading it.

I was born and raised in Guangzhou, same as Fan Zhendong. Sometime during my childhood (around 3rd grade), my parents got involved in activism. You know the typical fate of dissidents. We were the lucky ones. When I was 14, one night my dad got tipped off "they" were on the way to detain him. He had an upcoming visit to the US, so he already had his passport and exchange scholar visa (J-1 or something). The trip was planned for a few months later, but he managed to change the flight ticket to the earliest next flight, slipped away from home without packing (my mom and I happened to be out of town; he said plainclothes cops were already downstairs but didn't see him due to poor lighting), and flew out the next morning. If this happened today I don't think he can make it through the airport, but back then the computer networks were not as advanced. My mom and I didn't know where he was until he called from LA.

So my dad was safe in US. But for the next 2 years, my mom and I were pretty much held hostage. We had applied for passports, but of course never got them. "Security" folks often visited us "just to talk." They were simply doing it to harass us to get my dad to return. One night, as I listened in on the "talk" (just my mom telling them to leave) from my room, I was suddenly filled with rage and almost grabbed a knife and ran out to stab them. That could have ended badly. Anyway, we lived like that for 2 years. Some other intense details omitted.

Then one day, out of the blue, 2 dudes from some city- or provincial-government branch came by, gave us our passports, and said they would ensure our successful exit. The passports were issued almost 2 years prior but never released to us until then. This was a complete surprise and we had no prior preparation -- but now we wanted to pull it off as quickly as possible. We went to the consulate to get visa (H-4, my dad had converted to H-1), took care of other paperwork, booked round-trip tickets, told my school I would be back in 3 months, packed only 2 carry-on and 2 checked suitcases -- basically gave all signs of a short-term visit. From the day we got our passport to when we landed in LA, it was less than a month. I didn't get to say goodbye to my best friend in person.

To this date, we don't understand who pulled the strings or why someone helped us. There seemed to be in-fighting within the system, because after we left, "they" immediately started harassing relatives and my mom's coworkers, asking them to convince us to return.

And we haven't been back to China since then. I'm not involved with my parents' activity, but I am their only son and could easily be detained for leverage. Maybe that won't happen if I do go back, but I don't want to find out.

Like I said, not typical and read it as fiction if you prefer. I love China -- it's my homeland. But I very much want to see the Communist Party gone. I want this vicious side of the government gone so I can go back to visit my family and my friends. I hardly recognize any part of Guangzhou now, but I want to go back to tour my old apartments and schools.

Oh by the way great forum! I recently bought a cheap on-sale table and donated it to work so I can play with my colleagues ;)
 
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Photos were taken on the flight from Chengdu to Beijing. In yellow is ML.
They used the VIP entrance of Chengdu airport thus no media photos and interviews so far.

cache.php

cache.php

cache.php

Video from the flight to:

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMaLongFamily%2Fvideos%2F681452998645945%2F&show_text=0&width=300" width="300" height="400" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
 
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Just found out about this crazy development today and spent a few hours catching up, reading this thread, YouTube, and Chinese sites. I'm as concerned about the trio of ML/FZD/XX as others who participated (coaches and players). ML/FZD/XX are the most famous, which makes them bigger targets but the fame may also somewhat save them. On the other hand, the other players and coaches are smaller targets, but they also don't have the fame and fan base to protect them.

When I say "concerned" I don't mean they might get physically harmed, but rather their career quietly destroyed. And I don't think all of them will get the same treatment. Probably the few that are the most stubborn, or who are already not favored, might face the most severe outcome. Again, total speculation.

Now, what made me feel compelled to sign up for an account to post, is the somewhat heated exchange about China's censorship and authoritarian governing style. This entire subject is about, I hope most here agree, a negative aspect of the Chinese government. It's an area that has much room for improvement. As such, there is no need to accuse someone of spreading negativity or presenting one-sided story. This is a very specific topic, and no one is saying China is all about this. If during a discussion of guns someone says "The US has more gun-related crimes and accidents than most countries", and an American jumps up and argues "Why are you only talking about the bad things about America?", wouldn't that feel silly to you?

Lastly, I enjoyed reading the personal stories from you guys. So here is my story. It is far from a typical experience, mind you. Many details are omitted, but if you need a time frame, just know when I was in middle school in China, many students had cell phones. You don't have to believe my story, but I hope you at least get entertained reading it.

I was born and raised in Guangzhou, same as Fan Zhendong. Sometime during my childhood (around 3rd grade), my parents got involved in activism. You know the typical fate of dissidents. We were the lucky ones. When I was 14, one night my dad got tipped off "they" were on the way to detain him. He had an upcoming visit to the US, so he already had his passport and exchange scholar visa (J-1 or something). The trip was planned for a few months later, but he managed to change the flight ticket to the earliest next flight, slipped away from home without packing (my mom and I happened to be out of town; he said plainclothes cops were already downstairs but didn't see him due to poor lighting), and flew out the next morning. If this happened today I don't think he can make it through the airport, but back then the computer networks were not as advanced. My mom and I didn't know where he was until he called from LA.

So my dad was safe in US. But for the next 2 years, my mom and I were pretty much held hostage. We had applied for passports, but of course never got them. "Security" folks often visited us "just to talk." They were simply doing it to harass us to get my dad to return. One night, as I listened in on the "talk" (just my mom telling them to leave) from my room, I was suddenly filled with rage and almost grabbed a knife and ran out to stab them. That could have ended badly. Anyway, we lived like that for 2 years. Some other intense details omitted.

Then one day, out of the blue, 2 dudes from some city- or provincial-government branch came by, gave us our passports, and said they would ensure our successful exit. The passports were issued almost 2 years prior but never released to us until then. This was a complete surprise and we had no prior preparation -- but now we wanted to pull it off as quickly as possible. We went to the consulate to get visa (H-4, my dad had converted to H-1), took care of other paperwork, booked round-trip tickets, told my school I would be back in 3 months, packed only 2 carry-on and 2 checked suitcases -- basically gave all signs of a short-term visit. From the day we got our passport to when we landed in LA, it was less than a month. I didn't get to say goodbye to my best friend in person.

To this date, we don't understand who pulled the strings or why someone helped us. There seemed to be in-fighting within the system, because after we left, "they" immediately started harassing relatives and my mom's coworkers, asking them to convince us to return.

And we haven't been back to China since then. I'm not involved with my parents' activity, but I am their only son and could easily be detained for leverage. Maybe that won't happen if I do go back, but I don't want to find out.

Like I said, not typical and read it as fiction if you prefer. I love China -- it's my homeland. But I very much want to see the Communist Party gone. I want this vicious side of the government gone so I can go back to visit my family and my friends. I hardly recognize any part of Guangzhou now, but I want to go back to tour my old apartments and schools.

Oh by the way great forum! I recently bought a cheap on-sale table and donated it to work so I can play with my colleagues ;)

Quite special experience.
I do hear a lot of such stories. I'm glad your family got through it.
In China, there are quite a lot of people being brainwashed with strong nationalism. These people most likely complain a lot about government in their daily life, but when "foreign people" (or Chinese people who have realized how western world is different in a better way) started to talk about the injustice in China, these brainwashed people would be irritated as if their self-esteem is attacked.

Funny enough, when government is shitting on these same people, their self-esteem would suddenly be gone, and they'd prefer to shut their mouth and accept what they couldn't change.

Nationalism and too much collectiveness are poisonous.
 

M51

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You know the typical fate of dissidents...
...But I very much want to see the Communist Party gone.
Oh, I'm sure once China overthrows communism (not that Chinese communism IS in fact communism) it'll get its own Vladimir Putin. And we all know how much that dude loves dissidents.

As someone who grew up in a post-communist country I can tell you that your country's problem isn't the Party, it's the power structure in corruption within it.

The current CNT situation is a perfect example of that - an entire national team being a collateral victim of an internal power struggle.
 
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My guess (all it is, a guess) is that KLH gambling triggered a lot of this. The government has been cracking down brutally on officials who gamble in Macau, Vegas, etc.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/poli...racks-down-online-gambling-promoting-overseas

If LGL has been implicated in anything remotely similar, it would explain why he has been fired. It wouldn't take much in the current environment. Some of the other "reforms" that the director of GSA has been doing are completely nuts. But anti-corruption campaigns in China have intensified a lot under the new government. The players themselves may be completely unaware of whatever the investigators may have uncovered about LGL and so defended him out of loyality even though he was already a dead man walking professionally speaking.
 
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Welcome to the forum and thank you for signing up. You did a a better job of expressing and summarizing the sentiment than we were doing and thank you for that too ...

I hope you get to visit your country in the future and most importantly I hope you get to play more table tennis now and somehow that can help make up for the nostalgia and the wounds which are old and fresh ...

Now, what made me feel compelled to sign up for an account to post, is the somewhat heated exchange about China's censorship and authoritarian governing style. This entire subject is about, I hope most here agree, a negative aspect of the Chinese government. It's an area that has much room for improvement. As such, there is no need to accuse someone of spreading negativity or presenting one-sided story. This is a very specific topic, and no one is saying China is all about this. If during a discussion of guns someone says "The US has more gun-related crimes and accidents than most countries", and an American jumps up and argues "Why are you only talking about the bad things about America?", wouldn't that feel silly to you?
 
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Just found out about this crazy development today and spent a few hours catching up, reading this thread, YouTube, and Chinese sites. I'm as concerned about the trio of ML/FZD/XX as others who participated (coaches and players). ML/FZD/XX are the most famous, which makes them bigger targets but the fame may also somewhat save them. On the other hand, the other players and coaches are smaller targets, but they also don't have the fame and fan base to protect them.

When I say "concerned" I don't mean they might get physically harmed, but rather their career quietly destroyed. And I don't think all of them will get the same treatment. Probably the few that are the most stubborn, or who are already not favored, might face the most severe outcome. Again, total speculation.

Now, what made me feel compelled to sign up for an account to post, is the somewhat heated exchange about China's censorship and authoritarian governing style. This entire subject is about, I hope most here agree, a negative aspect of the Chinese government. It's an area that has much room for improvement. As such, there is no need to accuse someone of spreading negativity or presenting one-sided story. This is a very specific topic, and no one is saying China is all about this. If during a discussion of guns someone says "The US has more gun-related crimes and accidents than most countries", and an American jumps up and argues "Why are you only talking about the bad things about America?", wouldn't that feel silly to you?

Lastly, I enjoyed reading the personal stories from you guys. So here is my story. It is far from a typical experience, mind you. Many details are omitted, but if you need a time frame, just know when I was in middle school in China, many students had cell phones. You don't have to believe my story, but I hope you at least get entertained reading it.

I was born and raised in Guangzhou, same as Fan Zhendong. Sometime during my childhood (around 3rd grade), my parents got involved in activism. You know the typical fate of dissidents. We were the lucky ones. When I was 14, one night my dad got tipped off "they" were on the way to detain him. He had an upcoming visit to the US, so he already had his passport and exchange scholar visa (J-1 or something). The trip was planned for a few months later, but he managed to change the flight ticket to the earliest next flight, slipped away from home without packing (my mom and I happened to be out of town; he said plainclothes cops were already downstairs but didn't see him due to poor lighting), and flew out the next morning. If this happened today I don't think he can make it through the airport, but back then the computer networks were not as advanced. My mom and I didn't know where he was until he called from LA.

So my dad was safe in US. But for the next 2 years, my mom and I were pretty much held hostage. We had applied for passports, but of course never got them. "Security" folks often visited us "just to talk." They were simply doing it to harass us to get my dad to return. One night, as I listened in on the "talk" (just my mom telling them to leave) from my room, I was suddenly filled with rage and almost grabbed a knife and ran out to stab them. That could have ended badly. Anyway, we lived like that for 2 years. Some other intense details omitted.

Then one day, out of the blue, 2 dudes from some city- or provincial-government branch came by, gave us our passports, and said they would ensure our successful exit. The passports were issued almost 2 years prior but never released to us until then. This was a complete surprise and we had no prior preparation -- but now we wanted to pull it off as quickly as possible. We went to the consulate to get visa (H-4, my dad had converted to H-1), took care of other paperwork, booked round-trip tickets, told my school I would be back in 3 months, packed only 2 carry-on and 2 checked suitcases -- basically gave all signs of a short-term visit. From the day we got our passport to when we landed in LA, it was less than a month. I didn't get to say goodbye to my best friend in person.

To this date, we don't understand who pulled the strings or why someone helped us. There seemed to be in-fighting within the system, because after we left, "they" immediately started harassing relatives and my mom's coworkers, asking them to convince us to return.

And we haven't been back to China since then. I'm not involved with my parents' activity, but I am their only son and could easily be detained for leverage. Maybe that won't happen if I do go back, but I don't want to find out.

Like I said, not typical and read it as fiction if you prefer. I love China -- it's my homeland. But I very much want to see the Communist Party gone. I want this vicious side of the government gone so I can go back to visit my family and my friends. I hardly recognize any part of Guangzhou now, but I want to go back to tour my old apartments and schools.

Oh by the way great forum! I recently bought a cheap on-sale table and donated it to work so I can play with my colleagues ;)

Well first of all: welcome to the forum! Hope you have a good time here.

Thanks for sharing your story. Glad it turned out good for you and your family.
This totally fits in my picture of the “one political party“ system. There just was a documentary about the Artist Ai Weiwei on german television just as touching as your story. But he wasn't as lucky as you. He got imprisoned and put under house arrest and even needed permission if he wanted to go to the toilet with two officers standing next to him while he was doing his business there
Such a terrible shame. And all this happening in the 21st century (in 2011 to be more precise)
I believe this could be seen as torture in terms of the geneva conventions.

Are some people so incompetent that they fear criticism so much that they treat their own people this way? I certainly understand the mentality and the fear of losing the face, but c'mon everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect, so it's actually a sign of largeness to admit having made mistakes and take criticism like a man...
So sad to see and hear all this!
:(
 
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My guess (all it is, a guess) is that KLH gambling triggered a lot of this. The government has been cracking down brutally on officials who gamble in Macau, Vegas, etc.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/poli...racks-down-online-gambling-promoting-overseas

If LGL has been implicated in anything remotely similar, it would explain why he has been fired. It wouldn't take much in the current environment. Some of the other "reforms" that the director of GSA has been doing are completely nuts. But anti-corruption campaigns in China have intensified a lot under the new government. The players themselves may be completely unaware of whatever the investigators may have uncovered about LGL and so defended him out of loyality even though he was already a dead man walking professionally speaking.

I guess you're right.
Here's what ITTF wrote:
http://www.ittf.com/2017/06/24/ma-long-fan-zhendong-and-xu-xin-apologize-for-china-open-forfeit/

http://www.ctta.cn/xhgg/qttz/2017/0624/149306.html
 

M51

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Such a terrible shame. And all this happening in the 21st century (in 2011 to be more precise)
I believe this could be seen as torture in terms of the geneva conventions.

Are some people so incompetent that they fear criticism so much that they treat their own people this way?
:(
Over here they can and will arrest you for badmouthing politicians and clergy on social media.

And by "over here" I don't mean Putin's Russia, Erdogan's Turkey or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
 
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Over here they can and will arrest you for badmouthing politicians and clergy on social media.

And by "over here" I don't mean Putin's Russia, Erdogan's Turkey or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Probably depends on where you're at! (I've heard of dictatorship stuff like that in Poland though)

In Germany critisizing the government is not a problem at all. There even have been nude(!!) pics of Frau Merkel on the yellow press in Germany. (Still wondering who wanted to see those)
[Emoji15]
But it might be different where you're at.

And I admit that the new president of the biggest western country shows some signs of totalitarianism lately too and calls everything he doesn't like “fake news“ and seems to be very unable to deal with criticism.
If it was for him he even would close down media that doesn't write and report stuff in his favour.
As a german and american citizen myself i feel very underrepresented with this president. When George W. Bush was potus i never thought this was even possible!
But at least one is still able to speak his mind and mustn't fear to be bum rushed and ambushed in the middle of the night for speaking one's mind!
Very different to what was described above!
 
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But it might be different where you're at.
Croatia (check the flag), the 28th member of the EU. We've left communism 27 years ago, but the corruption in politics is more prevalent than ever, and the equality before the law exists only on paper. Talking smack against the members of the ruling party or the clergy could get you arrested (quite a few such arrests over the last few weeks, actually), but you can downright threaten to murder opposition members and the police won't do a thing.

But hey, at least we don't have a psychopathic walking carrot with a hair piece for a president.
 
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Probably depends on where you're at! (I've heard of dictatorship stuff like that in Poland though)

In Germany critisizing the government is not a problem at all. There even have been nude(!!) pics of Frau Merkel on the yellow press in Germany. (Still wondering who wanted to see those)
[Emoji15]
But it might be different where you're at.

And I admit that the new president of the biggest western country shows some signs of totalitarianism lately too and calls everything he doesn't like “fake news“ and seems to be very unable to deal with criticism.
If it was for him he even would close down media that doesn't write and report stuff in his favour.
As a german and american citizen myself i feel very underrepresented with this president. When George W. Bush was potus i never thought this was even possible!
But at least one is still able to speak his mind and mustn't fear to be bum rushed and ambushed in the middle of the night for speaking one's mind!
Very different to what was described above!

Hate to spoil the party, but you might want to read up a bit on the concept of repressive tolerance. :-(
 
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Croatia (check the flag), the 28th member of the EU. We've left communism 27 years ago, but the corruption in politics is more prevalent than ever, and the equality before the law exists only on paper. Talking smack against the members of the ruling party or the clergy could get you arrested (quite a few such arrests over the last few weeks, actually), but you can downright threaten to murder opposition members and the police won't do a thing.

But hey, at least we don't have a psychopathic walking carrot with a hair piece for a president.

Couldn't see your country flag on my mobile. But that's also very terrible and i hope things change for the better of your country and your people.
Hope it doesn't come across arrogant, but coming from a totalitarian system it's a frigging long and stony way to democracy.
See some of my german compatriots are still not comfortable with democracy and would rather have another totalitarian system after more than 25 years!!
So this isn't new to me.
Back when Helmut Kohl was chancellor of Germany he also couldn't deal with criticism.
In a TV interview he once told the interviewer that since he was chancellor she just couldn't ask him such things on public TV. And certainly he did this while the cameras were running. And this is just about 20 years ago.

But after all i really hope things change for the better.

Hate to spoil the party, but you might want to read up a bit on the concept of repressive tolerance. :-(

I think i understand. It's a bit like in ancient rome where “panem et circenses“ (bread and circuses) were held to keep the people quiet.
But in the end still better than having to fear being ambushed by repressive forces in the middle of the night like Ai Weiwei was. IMHO!
 
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Just found out about this crazy development today and spent a few hours catching up, reading this thread, YouTube, and Chinese sites. I'm as concerned about the trio of ML/FZD/XX as others who participated (coaches and players). ML/FZD/XX are the most famous, which makes them bigger targets but the fame may also somewhat save them. On the other hand, the other players and coaches are smaller targets, but they also don't have the fame and fan base to protect them.

When I say "concerned" I don't mean they might get physically harmed, but rather their career quietly destroyed. And I don't think all of them will get the same treatment. Probably the few that are the most stubborn, or who are already not favored, might face the most severe outcome. Again, total speculation.

Now, what made me feel compelled to sign up for an account to post, is the somewhat heated exchange about China's censorship and authoritarian governing style. This entire subject is about, I hope most here agree, a negative aspect of the Chinese government. It's an area that has much room for improvement. As such, there is no need to accuse someone of spreading negativity or presenting one-sided story. This is a very specific topic, and no one is saying China is all about this. If during a discussion of guns someone says "The US has more gun-related crimes and accidents than most countries", and an American jumps up and argues "Why are you only talking about the bad things about America?", wouldn't that feel silly to you?

Lastly, I enjoyed reading the personal stories from you guys. So here is my story. It is far from a typical experience, mind you. Many details are omitted, but if you need a time frame, just know when I was in middle school in China, many students had cell phones. You don't have to believe my story, but I hope you at least get entertained reading it.

I was born and raised in Guangzhou, same as Fan Zhendong. Sometime during my childhood (around 3rd grade), my parents got involved in activism. You know the typical fate of dissidents. We were the lucky ones. When I was 14, one night my dad got tipped off "they" were on the way to detain him. He had an upcoming visit to the US, so he already had his passport and exchange scholar visa (J-1 or something). The trip was planned for a few months later, but he managed to change the flight ticket to the earliest next flight, slipped away from home without packing (my mom and I happened to be out of town; he said plainclothes cops were already downstairs but didn't see him due to poor lighting), and flew out the next morning. If this happened today I don't think he can make it through the airport, but back then the computer networks were not as advanced. My mom and I didn't know where he was until he called from LA.

So my dad was safe in US. But for the next 2 years, my mom and I were pretty much held hostage. We had applied for passports, but of course never got them. "Security" folks often visited us "just to talk." They were simply doing it to harass us to get my dad to return. One night, as I listened in on the "talk" (just my mom telling them to leave) from my room, I was suddenly filled with rage and almost grabbed a knife and ran out to stab them. That could have ended badly. Anyway, we lived like that for 2 years. Some other intense details omitted.

Then one day, out of the blue, 2 dudes from some city- or provincial-government branch came by, gave us our passports, and said they would ensure our successful exit. The passports were issued almost 2 years prior but never released to us until then. This was a complete surprise and we had no prior preparation -- but now we wanted to pull it off as quickly as possible. We went to the consulate to get visa (H-4, my dad had converted to H-1), took care of other paperwork, booked round-trip tickets, told my school I would be back in 3 months, packed only 2 carry-on and 2 checked suitcases -- basically gave all signs of a short-term visit. From the day we got our passport to when we landed in LA, it was less than a month. I didn't get to say goodbye to my best friend in person.

To this date, we don't understand who pulled the strings or why someone helped us. There seemed to be in-fighting within the system, because after we left, "they" immediately started harassing relatives and my mom's coworkers, asking them to convince us to return.

And we haven't been back to China since then. I'm not involved with my parents' activity, but I am their only son and could easily be detained for leverage. Maybe that won't happen if I do go back, but I don't want to find out.

Like I said, not typical and read it as fiction if you prefer. I love China -- it's my homeland. But I very much want to see the Communist Party gone. I want this vicious side of the government gone so I can go back to visit my family and my friends. I hardly recognize any part of Guangzhou now, but I want to go back to tour my old apartments and schools.

Oh by the way great forum! I recently bought a cheap on-sale table and donated it to work so I can play with my colleagues ;)

Thanks for sharing your experience. I felt very touch by it. Especially the point you made about you missing your homeland but unable to visit. I hope you have found peace in your new home.

Seeing the communist party gone may not happen but removing the vicious side of the government is a realistic long term hope. You never know, we may play a game at your home town in the future or getting some coaching from FZD when he retires. How about that, huh? :)
 
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Using KLH's gambling to rid of him is ironic as gambling is in Chinese blood (or Vietnamese as well)! Chinese folks gamble a lot and are addictive like alcohol to West Indians. They love to bet when they play table tennis even for a couple bucks to thousands of dollars. I went to Macau once in 2007 and was shocked to see out of 10 boats from Zhuhai only one boat went to Hong Kong while the rest to Macau. Ah .. some folks remind us that Xi Jinping's dream is about a "clean" China of without gambling, prostitution, crime, bribery, corruption... Keep dreaming on Mr. Xi. We all know so well that you and your supporters use such slogan to rid of opponents. KLH is just an ant swallowed under this huge wave of so-called anti-corruption. So are LGL and his supporters ML, FZD ...
 
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Another angle to look at the whole incident: Basically the management reform of removing the head coach in all the national sports has cutoff the benefit/earnings in the old management structures. So if you look at the tt boycott action, they are trying to fight and gain back the power of management and skill development dominated by LGL along with the sport benefit/earnings; easpecially Malin, Ma Long, Ma Long's father and LGL's wife had registered several companies and done the business together years ago. So they are sharing the same interest...
 
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