Tulsi Gabbard's political career was secretly directed by her guru Chris Butler. Under the pen name Bo Zhongyan (
柏忠言
), Butler also coauthored anti-Western books in China with his wife Wai Lana (Zhang Huilan,
张蕙兰
). They described Westerners as
"no more than dogs"
and dedicated their 1986 book to
"the great and magnificent Chinese nation"
—
这个伟大，壮丽国家的全体中国人民.
Source
Thousands of documents and emails from the covert Science of Identity political operation have been independently examined by the Washington Post. The content on this website is attributed solely to the site's author.
By every independent measure, China is one of the most repressive police states on earth. Its people live under hundreds of millions of surveillance cameras, the world's most aggressive internet censorship, and courts that almost never acquit. Speak against the Party, and you can lose your freedom.
First-person account
Similar to the CCP's philosophy, Tulsi Gabbard's guru Chris Butler did not allow freedom of speech inside his religious group, the Science of Identity Foundation. He ruled through control of information and the punishment of anyone who stepped out of line.
Soon after Tulsi Gabbard was nominated for Director of National Intelligence, an SIF insider and longtime Gabbard associate, Allison Hoen, told me not to speak to the Washington Post about Tulsi Gabbard.
Allison Hoen even made the patently absurd accusation that the mild-mannered Washington Post reporter was "stalking" Science of Identity members.
I acknowledged her message but did not reply. I had cut off contact with the Gabbards and the Science of Identity people several years earlier, and I did not appreciate being told what I could and could not say. I was also disgusted by their smears of the reporter.
Just weeks later, Tulsi Gabbard's inner circle began a twisted, sick campaign to try to silence me and destroy my life. I describe it in another post.
What follows is what a real police state looks like: the system Butler admired in miniature, run by the Chinese Communist Party at the scale of 1.4 billion people.
The most watched population on earth
China runs the largest surveillance apparatus ever built. Its national camera network, known as Skynet and expanded through the "Sharp Eyes" (Xueliang) program, was mandated to cover 100% of public space. Independent estimates put the number of surveillance cameras in China in the hundreds of millions, many tied to facial-recognition systems. 1
The goal is not only to solve crimes. It is to make every citizen aware, at all times, that the state is watching, and to make organizing, protesting, or dissenting feel impossible before it begins.
200M+
Estimated surveillance cameras across China
100%
Public-space coverage targeted by the "Sharp Eyes" program
No free press
In the 2025 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, China ranked 178th out of 180 countries, just ahead of North Korea, and remains the world's largest jailer of journalists. 2
The cost of independent reporting is prison. Veteran journalist Dong Yuyu, for example, was sentenced to seven years on espionage charges after he was detained while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat. 3
The world's most censored internet
China operates the most sophisticated system of internet censorship on the planet, the "Great Firewall." Freedom House has rated China the worst country in the world for internet freedom for ten consecutive years, with a score of 9 out of 100 in its 2024 assessment. 4
Citizens face legal and extralegal punishment simply for sharing news, discussing their religion, or communicating with people overseas. The state can order any post, account, or topic erased.
Courts that almost never acquit
China's justice system is built to convict. In 2022, Chinese courts returned roughly 354 not-guilty verdicts out of about 1.4 million criminal cases, a conviction rate of about 99.97%. The acquittal rate has fallen for two decades and now sits near zero. 5
Outside the courts, the Party can make people disappear entirely. Through a system called "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL), suspects can be held in secret for up to six months, cut off from family and lawyers. Freedom House rates China "Not Free," with an overall freedom score of 9 out of 100. 6
7
99.97%
Conviction rate in China's criminal courts (2022)
9/100
China's freedom score, rated "Not Free" (Freedom House)
The crushing of Hong Kong
When Hong Kongers protested for democracy, Beijing imposed a sweeping National Security Law in 2020 and used it to dismantle the city's free press and opposition. The pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was forced to close, and its founder, Jimmy Lai, was jailed and prosecuted. A territory that once had genuine civil liberties was brought under police-state control in a matter of months. 8
The same instinct, a smaller scale
A police state runs on three things: surveillance, censorship, and punishment of dissent. The Chinese Communist Party deploys all three against 1.4 billion people. Tulsi Gabbard's guru built the same machine inside his own community, monitoring members, controlling what they could read and say, and retaliating against anyone who spoke out.
When I declined to stay silent, I experienced that machine firsthand.
The Chinese Communist Party silences a nation. Tulsi Gabbard's guru silences his followers. The instinct is identical: control what people are allowed to know, and punish anyone who tells the truth.
