On June 4, 2020, Hao Haidong, a former Chinese soccer star and the nation’s top goalscorer, uploaded a video in which he and his wife announced a statement from the “New Federal State of China,” a movement that Guo Wengui sponsored, and which Steve Bannon (former executive chairman of Breitbart News) backed. In the video, Hao openly denounced the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and called for the removal of the regime. He said in the video, “Football in China is a reflection of the country … It’s not the players that make it worse, it’s the bureaucrats that damage the whole business by ignoring the rules.” Hao’s wife, Ye Zhaoying, is a former world badminton champion. Immediately after Hao’s action, the couple’s Chinese social media accounts were deleted, as well as their online profiles on major portals in China.
Guo Wengui, a wealthy businessman in exile (now living in the United States) is the leader of the “New Federal State of China.” He told the audience in a live broadcast on June 6 that Hao Runze, son of Hao Haidong, who was playing in a Serbian soccer league, was fired.
The retaliatory move does not come as a surprise. Tang Jingyuan, an anchor on New Tang Dynasty TV, a New York based Chinese language network, tweeted: “Serbia is highly pro-communist. Its president kissed the five-star flag (China’ national flag) in public when he welcomed the CCP’s medical team in March this year. The dismissal of Hao Runze was only a reciprocal gift from Serbia.”
Public sources show Hao Runze, 23 years old, is a professional soccer player. At the age of 16, he scored his first professional goal after joining the Spanish League. Hao joined the Serbian Radnicki Nis club in February this year. One day before Hao Haidong’s declaration, Hao Runze scored a goal in the Serbian SuperLiga, the Serbian professional league for soccer clubs.
Coincidental or not, People’s Daily, the CCP’s mouthpiece newspaper, published a translated article from a researcher from the University of Belgrade, praising the CCP and its close relationship with Serbia. It also mentioned a few “Belt and Road” projects in Serbia: the Mihajlo Pupin Bridge which the China Road and Bridge Corporation had undertaken, the Kostolac Power Plant, which China Exim Bank had financed, and the E-763 highway, that the Shandong Hi-speed Group had built.
Source: Epoch Times, June 7, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/6/7/n12168584.htm