Washington, DC [US], September 29 : Rushan Abbas, Founder and Executive Director of the Campaign for Uyghurs, has sent a letter to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L Parker, urging her to cancel the planned flag-raising ceremony for China set for September 30.
In her letter, Abbas highlighted the severe human rights violations committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under the flag that is scheduled to be raised. She shared a deeply personal story about her sister, Dr Gulshan Abbas, a retired medical doctor and grandmother, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in China.
According to Rushan, her sister was imprisoned solely because of her peaceful advocacy work in the United States.
"The red flag of Communist China is not a symbol of culture or unity. It is the emblem of a totalitarian regime formally recognised by the US government and parliaments worldwide as perpetrating genocide," Abbas wrote.
The letter detailed the CCP's brutal policies, including mass surveillance, forced sterilisation, the separation of children from their parents, forced labour, and the systematic targeting of minority groups such as Uyghurs, Christians, Tibetans, Hong Kong activists, and Falun Gong practitioners.
Abbas argued that raising the Chinese flag in Philadelphia, known as the birthplace of the US Constitution and a symbol of liberty and justice, would normalise and legitimise these atrocities. She warned it would send a message that the CCP's reach extends even to American soil.
"As the sister of one of millions detained in camps, an American citizen, and a believer in the city's values, I urge you to cancel this ceremony. Doing so would stand against authoritarian propaganda, not the Chinese people, many of whom long for freedom and justice," she wrote.
The Campaign for Uyghurs also called on Mayor Parker to stand with victims of tyranny and uphold the principles of freedom that Philadelphia represents.
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