Respected audience,

Harry Wu, our friend, is gone. He was a great man. The bravest of the brave. Nothing can bring him back, but his obligations, his duties, his commitments remain. For you Americans and for us Europeans, especially his friends, Toni Brandi in Italy and myself in Northern Europe. We, the Foundation, shall continue his work – with Harry’s zeal and his dedication. And your help.

That is highly necessary. The LAOGAI system did not end with Harry Wu’s discharge. It goes on and on and on. In the People’s Republic of China, in the People’s Republic of North Korea, in the People’s Republic of Vietnam, and - despite President Obama’s visit - in the People’s Republic of Cuba. Where ever communism reigns. And we, the democracies of the free world, benefit by buying cheap forced labor made products to raise our standards of living. Harry said “A terrible, totally unacceptable disgrace”. Toni and I agree.

Yes, the People’s Republic of China changed the name LAOGAI immediately after Harry talked to Congress for the first time in 1992. Nowadays they even show important visitors around so-called LAOGAI-Camps which in fact are nothing but spit and polish affairs. Czech diplomats told me “But we saw the fear in their eyes”.

Imagine: 19 long years 12-14 hours daily hard labor plus 2 hours of communist nonsense and indoctrination, seven days a week, no medical treatment, torture, solitary confinement, no letter from home, no laughter, no smile, no music. Scarce food, hunger. Hunger. Just because some cruel dictator does not like what you think or say. Communist charity at its best.

Harry left us another important legacy. He wants and urges us to have a LAOGAI-Museum in Beijing. This will not become a reality in my lifetime, but it is a legacy which politicians of the free world should remember when dealing with the People’s Republic of China.

Harry, you are now sailing on the eternally free ocean into a better world. You have done all and everything a human being could possibly do to fight LAOGAI. Harry, Du hast Deinen Frieden redlich verdient.

Peter Mueller

Library of Congress Washington D.C., USA, May 25^th, 2016