The story of our

first newspaper.

My name is Kirk Wang. As senior vice president of subscriptions at The Epoch Times, I am just one of the many who work behind the scenes to make sure each and every one of our readers gets access to our news.

Today, I'd like to share my story with you.

My Journey to the United States

I was born and raised in communist China, where our textbooks taught us to "impale our enemies with a thousand spears." Our problems were always caused by the "evils of American imperialism." We had no freedom, only brainwashing and tyranny.

It was a society where relationships between people were tense. People struggled against each other for limited resources, and after rounds and rounds of political campaigns that culled most of the kind and trusting people from society, only the most cunning could survive. This was not the world I wanted to live in. The mass slaughter of pro-democracy student activists in 1989 only confirmed my decision. So, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was forced by the West to loosen its authoritarian grip after Tiananmen, I left China.

Living the American Dream

My reason for coming to the United States was selfish at first: I just wanted to enjoy the freedoms of a democratic society and live a happy life. I didn't really think much about giving back. After coming over in 1993, I worked my way through two master's degrees and found a job as a software engineer.

In 1997, my wife and I bought our first house. The down payment cost me all the savings I had back then—$7,500—but I had a good feeling about it. Our neighbors also happened to be Chinese immigrants, a couple who practiced Falun Gong.

The spiritual principles of Falun Gong taught people to be truthful, compassionate, and forbearing. It was a stark contrast from the China I knew, where every man was out for himself. Through this qigong practice, I was able to get in touch with the traditional values of Chinese spirituality, while the meditation exercises improved my health. My wife and I soon became dedicated practitioners.

We had family, faith, and a home. And for a little over one year, everything finally seemed all right.

An Inflection Point

In July of 1999, the CCP selected the target of its next political campaign: Falun Gong practitioners. Overnight, the qigong practice that it used to praise widely was now slandered as a "dangerous cult"—a charge the CCP laid on its enemies—and all of its members were to be physically persecuted, and have their reputations smeared, and their finances cut off.

I was even more shocked that all the mainstream news sources outside of China repeated the same lies as the CCP's state media. For the first time, I realized that even the United States might not be completely free from the influence of the CCP.

I was faced with a choice. I could pretend like nothing was going on and continue to live life with my family, now including a little daughter. Or I could do something to fight back against the lies, and give a voice to the voiceless. I chose the latter.

When The Epoch Times was founded in 2000, I was the first to join the production team in Atlanta.