What do you think?
Surviving Chinese Communist Detention
One minute, you're a successful 27 year-old American entrepreneur, co-founding a business in Beijing, China. Years of your life have been dedicated to learning Mandarin, establishing a career and building a life for yourself in East Asia.
Next, you're falsely and arbitrarily accused of "illegal employment" by CCP (Chinese Communist Party) authorities, kidnapped, and locked in the back of a Chinese prison transport vehicle.
Sadly, this isn't cleverly scripted Hollywood fiction.
This was a very real and horrifying experience for native Californian, Steven Schaerer, who spent five years of his life living and working in Beijing, China.
Steven was transported to a black-site prison compound on the outskirts of Beijing where he endured a month of CCP detention, torture, and conditions so horrific, "suicide" warnings were plastered on the walls.
All of your belongings have been taken. You don't know where you are, how long you'll be detained and you've just been thrown into a foreign prison cell with 16 violent inmates. The last thing you hear is a CCP guard slamming the barred metal door shut behind you.
Could you survive?
Steven Schaerer survived communist Chinese incarceration, torture, and deportation. Steven is a proud first generation American from California's Bay Area, and is the proud bi-racial son of immigrant parents from Switzerland and Mexico.
He was the first person in his family to attend university earning a degree in chemistry from Sonoma State University in Northern California. In addition to English, Steven also speaks Mandarin, Spanish, and successfully co-founded a business in Beijing in his mid-20's.
Steven is a staunch advocate for and defender of freedom, liberty, the Constitution, free-market capitalism, Human Rights and the American way of life.
Next, you're falsely and arbitrarily accused of "illegal employment" by CCP (Chinese Communist Party) authorities, kidnapped, and locked in the back of a Chinese prison transport vehicle.
Sadly, this isn't cleverly scripted Hollywood fiction.
This was a very real and horrifying experience for native Californian, Steven Schaerer, who spent five years of his life living and working in Beijing, China.
Steven was transported to a black-site prison compound on the outskirts of Beijing where he endured a month of CCP detention, torture, and conditions so horrific, "suicide" warnings were plastered on the walls.
All of your belongings have been taken. You don't know where you are, how long you'll be detained and you've just been thrown into a foreign prison cell with 16 violent inmates. The last thing you hear is a CCP guard slamming the barred metal door shut behind you.
Could you survive?
Steven Schaerer survived communist Chinese incarceration, torture, and deportation. Steven is a proud first generation American from California's Bay Area, and is the proud bi-racial son of immigrant parents from Switzerland and Mexico.
He was the first person in his family to attend university earning a degree in chemistry from Sonoma State University in Northern California. In addition to English, Steven also speaks Mandarin, Spanish, and successfully co-founded a business in Beijing in his mid-20's.
Steven is a staunch advocate for and defender of freedom, liberty, the Constitution, free-market capitalism, Human Rights and the American way of life.
346 pages, Paperback
Published May 17, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 24, 2021
As days are passing we are getting more clarifying proves about the possible China's Covid cover up.
This is a book that I believe shall reach many because it is based on the real ordeal of the author in China in the hands of CCP. He has taken the courage to pen down his traumatic racist experience. After reading this book, I consider it as one my deepest and essential reads of 2021.
This book opens our eyes to the world that Chinese government tries to hide in the veil of an innocent developing nation through their cleverly crafted propaganda for the world.
Mr. Steven had founded and funded a business, during his 4th year in Beijing, as a 26-year-old from California. The company provided business and educational training courses for young professionals.
One of the learning centers he had signed a working contract with was in Guomao. In 2016, a group of CCP officers randomly entered and started interrogated him and his 3 more teammates. For next few days they called them in office for long hours. Even after having all valid legal permits being a racist department they harrassed them on multiple occassions and later arrested them in detention.
I respect if even he described the misconducts of a nation he also took time to clarify that the Chinese natives are good people and they too are suffering in the hands of their government when their judiciary system is not independent like in U.S. or Indian constitution. China has hardcore, rigid and strict indoctrination of communist principles. It is not at all a book that shows hatred but it only presents his true experience.
When you have done nothing illegal and still get detention in a foreign nation where land is lawless it is unimaginably horrendous and helpless condition. I was surprised that they educate their students to become racist. I am glad that the author was super lucky to get help from their embassy. I wish him peace, happiness and success. But what about the mental trauma after days in Gallows? I feel sad thinking about many who may not ever see the light of the day without ever doing something illegal but only because they are racist. When will justice be delivered to them?
I am surprised to know so many raw facts about Chinese Communist Party. The proves of inhuman tortures, prisoners human organs taken out and being sold in black markets, tight policies of citizenship, wrong education system, loopholes in global outlook, racist attitude, lawless conduct, human rights violation,rapes in Uyghur muslim community, etc. It's horrible. The world knows China to be the home of a beautiful ancient civilization. I still believe good will one day overcast the settled wrong.
I highly recommend it. Extremely well researched. Mind boggling facts added. This book is now officially the best selling human rights book on Amazon. It deserves it.
This is a book that I believe shall reach many because it is based on the real ordeal of the author in China in the hands of CCP. He has taken the courage to pen down his traumatic racist experience. After reading this book, I consider it as one my deepest and essential reads of 2021.
This book opens our eyes to the world that Chinese government tries to hide in the veil of an innocent developing nation through their cleverly crafted propaganda for the world.
Mr. Steven had founded and funded a business, during his 4th year in Beijing, as a 26-year-old from California. The company provided business and educational training courses for young professionals.
One of the learning centers he had signed a working contract with was in Guomao. In 2016, a group of CCP officers randomly entered and started interrogated him and his 3 more teammates. For next few days they called them in office for long hours. Even after having all valid legal permits being a racist department they harrassed them on multiple occassions and later arrested them in detention.
I respect if even he described the misconducts of a nation he also took time to clarify that the Chinese natives are good people and they too are suffering in the hands of their government when their judiciary system is not independent like in U.S. or Indian constitution. China has hardcore, rigid and strict indoctrination of communist principles. It is not at all a book that shows hatred but it only presents his true experience.
When you have done nothing illegal and still get detention in a foreign nation where land is lawless it is unimaginably horrendous and helpless condition. I was surprised that they educate their students to become racist. I am glad that the author was super lucky to get help from their embassy. I wish him peace, happiness and success. But what about the mental trauma after days in Gallows? I feel sad thinking about many who may not ever see the light of the day without ever doing something illegal but only because they are racist. When will justice be delivered to them?
I am surprised to know so many raw facts about Chinese Communist Party. The proves of inhuman tortures, prisoners human organs taken out and being sold in black markets, tight policies of citizenship, wrong education system, loopholes in global outlook, racist attitude, lawless conduct, human rights violation,rapes in Uyghur muslim community, etc. It's horrible. The world knows China to be the home of a beautiful ancient civilization. I still believe good will one day overcast the settled wrong.
I highly recommend it. Extremely well researched. Mind boggling facts added. This book is now officially the best selling human rights book on Amazon. It deserves it.
August 18, 2021
Actual rating: 4.5/5
This is a must-read for anyone interested in China.
Despite the fact that it's obvious at some points the book was self-published (a few spelling mistakes and repeated sentences) and reads a bit like an essay at times (I think the footnotes should have been placed at the end of the book), it was still a helluva interesting read.
The first few chapters did read very much like a university essay, which isn't a bad thing, just different. It was still information worth knowing. But when Schaerer stars really going into detail about his arrest and time in detention, I couldn't put the book down. I couldn't imagine what it felt like to go through this, even though he did his best to make you feel like you were there with him. It was hard to believe this wasn't some well-planned piece of fiction, but an actual retelling of this poor man's experience.
I'm glad to have read his story, for that means he really did escape the CCP (Chinese Communist Party).
I'm also impressed at how fast he seemed to put this book together. judging by the information and footnotes, he was still writing/researching stuff for this book as early as February of this year. The work he put into making this not only a great yet informative book really shows. Well written and a great (yet depressing) read.
I do think he could have spelled out the swear words, though, instead of censoring them. Maybe that's just the bit of CCP propaganda leftover from his time in detention.
All in all, I highly recommend this book. It's a great educational experience.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in China.
Despite the fact that it's obvious at some points the book was self-published (a few spelling mistakes and repeated sentences) and reads a bit like an essay at times (I think the footnotes should have been placed at the end of the book), it was still a helluva interesting read.
The first few chapters did read very much like a university essay, which isn't a bad thing, just different. It was still information worth knowing. But when Schaerer stars really going into detail about his arrest and time in detention, I couldn't put the book down. I couldn't imagine what it felt like to go through this, even though he did his best to make you feel like you were there with him. It was hard to believe this wasn't some well-planned piece of fiction, but an actual retelling of this poor man's experience.
I'm glad to have read his story, for that means he really did escape the CCP (Chinese Communist Party).
I'm also impressed at how fast he seemed to put this book together. judging by the information and footnotes, he was still writing/researching stuff for this book as early as February of this year. The work he put into making this not only a great yet informative book really shows. Well written and a great (yet depressing) read.
I do think he could have spelled out the swear words, though, instead of censoring them. Maybe that's just the bit of CCP propaganda leftover from his time in detention.
All in all, I highly recommend this book. It's a great educational experience.
July 25, 2021
Some editing and style choices could make this a 3.5 stars. That said, this is a very interesting read, and an important read. Many Americans have forgotten how special and unique our country is. Our Constitutional liberties make us a beacon to the world, and our liberties face great threats within and beyond. Schaerer backs this claim Schaerer's experience makes a horrifying and very pointed account of the Communist threat. The studies regarding the physical and psychological effects of torture were interesting, as was other data regarding governing policies, laws, etc. In a nutshell, all things are arbitrary under Chinese Communist rule. In expressing his gut reactions through the 3 weeks of detention, Schaerer's use of profanity is "softened" with symbols. This is the style choice I referenced. For example"f$ck!" was used in place of the whole word. This was cumbersome in my view. The horror of his experience was adequately stated without these explanations, and the symbols didn't soften the impact. I still feel this is an important read.
May 4, 2025
Steven Schaerer’s Surviving Chinese Communist Detention is more than a personal narrative—it is an indictment of a regime where the illusion of law masks the machinery of fear. Falsely imprisoned in China under dubious charges and with no due process, Schaerer pulls back the veil on a justice system where the Communist Party is god, and truth is whatever serves its agenda.
His account is raw, vivid, and surprisingly laced with moments of wit and dark humor. He navigates not only the suffocating environment of detention but the psychological contradictions between Western freedoms and China’s collectivist submission. His reflections on religion—perhaps the book’s most powerful section—strike at the spiritual void behind the state’s absolute control.
What makes this memoir uniquely potent is its dual lens: Schaerer tells his story, but he also frames it against official CCP narratives, exposing their falsity with lived experience. His comparison of how foreign inmates are treated versus Chinese prisoners is sobering, and while he could have drawn a sharper contrast with Mao’s era, the implication is clear—modern China may wear a global face, but its soul remains clenched behind iron bars.
As Schaerer's evidence illustrates, in a system where truth is dangerous, deception becomes institutionalized to the brutal suffocation of the human spirit.
His account is raw, vivid, and surprisingly laced with moments of wit and dark humor. He navigates not only the suffocating environment of detention but the psychological contradictions between Western freedoms and China’s collectivist submission. His reflections on religion—perhaps the book’s most powerful section—strike at the spiritual void behind the state’s absolute control.
What makes this memoir uniquely potent is its dual lens: Schaerer tells his story, but he also frames it against official CCP narratives, exposing their falsity with lived experience. His comparison of how foreign inmates are treated versus Chinese prisoners is sobering, and while he could have drawn a sharper contrast with Mao’s era, the implication is clear—modern China may wear a global face, but its soul remains clenched behind iron bars.
As Schaerer's evidence illustrates, in a system where truth is dangerous, deception becomes institutionalized to the brutal suffocation of the human spirit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2021
Read it
Forget what you think you know about China and discover what is really happening there. The citizens of the US need to wake up.
Forget what you think you know about China and discover what is really happening there. The citizens of the US need to wake up.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews