Students were given the opportunity to to gather together and listen to the words of a fellow colleague’s experience in life under the Chinese government on Oct. 10.

The meeting, known as Global Consortium, gave students an insight of the human rights abuses that occur all over the globe.

Cerritos College student and guest speaker Liutao Tang expressed his story of social reform, government control, and the limitations of free speech that would motivate him to take action to the injustices of the Chinese government and journey into the United States.

Tang expressed that free speech is different in countries like China compared to the United States as the people have to keep in mind on what they can express openly in a day to day basis.

“I want everyone to be aware,” Tang said, ” what the Chinese people are suffering through.”

He explained that the Chinese government teaches its people that the “American Freedom” is evil; using fear as a tool to prevent people from trying to escape.

The students were moved by Tang’s attempts of helping others in the country as the government pressured them into reform, ultimately forcing him to leave his family behind and travel to the United States in order to avoid punishment.

When asked by the students about his future plans, Tang responded that he cannot go back to China, but he will continue to share his story to the rest other communities and campuses; spreading the oppression Chinese people currently face.

“I believe in the American system,” he sad, “I want to encourage people to stay strong.”

Ryan Sarehkhani, adjunct english professor, arranged the discussion in order to promote more discussions on the relationship between immigration and various countries around the world.

“Students are pretty knowledgeable of that [immigration] topic,” Sarehkhani said.

“I dont think people are taught how serious human rights issues are right now in China.”

He also stated that the exposure of these stories will encourage students to take action against human rights abuse as well as helping communities that immigrated from countries like China to assimilate to the lifestyle they are not used to.