A Cobourg man has been on a hunger strike in front of the police station since Friday, November 19, 2021.
Twenty-seven-year-old Gradin Cai has been sitting on a bench outside the police station with a anti-war message he created in downtown Cobourg since Friday morning.
Cai is so adamant in what he believes in that he has been on a hunger strike since Friday and will continue to do so until the Canadian government acknowledges that Taiwan is a independent country.
“I’m staying on a hunger strike here until that happens.”
Wearing a heavy winter coat and a pair of gloves, Cai seems to be prepared for the long haul with a sheet of cardboard for a mattress and a knapsack for a pillow.
The image he created in chained to the bench outside the police station.
The oil-based painting states, “Tackle humanity with Compassion & De-Escalate” and has a swastika which is emblem used by the German Nazi party, but is also an ancient symbol in the form of a equal-armed cross.
Cai describes the sign by pointing at the past of the swastika and states were are heading towards the future, “which might happen due to selfishness of the Chinese.”
Cai admits the message he is trying to convey is “complicated”
“We cannot repeat the past because there is going to be consequences that we cannot recover from if nukes (nuclear weapons) go off.”
On the left side with the swastika represents Germany and on the right side with a customised sign and the word “selfishness” in the sign it represents China.
But Cai said he wants to cross out the word “selfishness” because he feels that, “history is going to repeat itself.”
“The main purpose of the sign is to bring awareness of the likelihood of World War III happening in the near future.”
Cai said there are, “3,000 nukes in circulation and it just takes one of them to cause a mass catastrophe.”
Cai said as the days go on, he will be adding to his painting but added he is willing to die for the cause.
He is on a hunger strike and plans to be in front of the police station for weeks to protest the starvation that is going to happen if World War III happens.
“People are going to starve without a choice.”
Cai’s mother has been to visit her son several times over the past days and has watched over him at night at times while he sleeps behind the bench.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
