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* '''Digital harassment''': Deploying cyber tactics to track and intimidate individuals​​.<ref name=":04" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":3" />
* '''Digital harassment''': Deploying cyber tactics to track and intimidate individuals​​.<ref name=":04" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":3" />
* '''Control of mobility''': Confiscating passports and controlling visa access to limit movement of target groups​​.<ref name=":04" />
* '''Control of mobility''': Confiscating passports and controlling visa access to limit movement of target groups​​.<ref name=":04" />

== Notable cases ==

* '''January 2024''': A British pianist YouTuber Brandon Kavanagh was confronted by a group of Chinese nationals in London's St. Pancras railway station. They asked him to stop his livestream and delete the video as they do not want to show their faces. Days after the incident, the piano, donated by Sir Elton John, was sealed off and guarded, allegedly for maintenance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuepper |first=Miriam |date=2024-01-23 |title=St Pancras piano 'sealed off' after clash between pianist and tourists |url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12998105/St-Pancras-piano-sealed-guarded-clash-pianist-Chinese-tourists-demanded-faces-hidden-video-livestream.html |access-date= |website=Mail Online}}</ref> In protest, the pianist returned after the seal was removed with Winnie the Pooh plushie and references to the Tiananmen Square Massacre, both banned by China. He received various threats from CCP supporters online, including death threats.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Tim |last2=Chung |first2=Ray |date=January 29, 2024 |title=London YouTuber hid in van, received death threats after piano face-off |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/uk-piano-threats-01292024150054.html |access-date= |website=Radio Free Asia |language=en}}</ref>  
* '''December 2023''': Hong Kong Police issued a 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) reward for information on five individuals involved in the 2019 Hong Kong protests against China's National Security Law, including a U.S. citizen. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized this initiative, referring to it as a "bounty list," and expressed the United States' rejection of such attempts to intimidate and target those who advocate for freedom and democracy.<ref name=":22">{{Cite news |last=Vinall |first=Frances |date=2023-12-16 |title=Blinken denounces Hong Kong government’s bounties on overseas activists |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/16/hong-kong-activists-bounty-blinken/ |access-date= |work=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
* '''April 2023''': In a press release, the Department of Justice announces that it has charged 40 officers from China's national police in cases involving transnational repression schemes targeting individuals in the United States. These officers face charges related to illegal surveillance, harassment, and conspiring to coerce U.S. residents into returning to China. Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division commented that “these cases demonstrate the lengths the PRC government will go to silence and harass U.S. persons who exercise their fundamental rights to speak out against PRC oppression, including by unlawfully exploiting a U.S.-based technology company.”<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |date=2023-04-17 |title=Office of Public Affairs {{!}} 40 Officers of China’s National Police Charged in Transnational Repression Schemes Targeting U.S. Residents {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/40-officers-china-s-national-police-charged-transnational-repression-schemes-targeting-us |access-date= |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 19:43, 11 February 2024

Transnational repression by China refers to efforts by the Chinese government to exert control and silence dissent beyond its national borders. This phenomenon targets groups and individuals perceived as threats or critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The methods include digital surveillance, physical intimidation, coercion, and misuse of international legal systems.[1]

Background

From 2014-2022, Freedom House documented at least 735 direct, physical incidents of transnational repression globally, including assassinations, assault, abductions, detentions, and unlawful deportation. China was responsible for 229 of these incidents, making it the most extensive practitioner of transnational repression. The estimate was conservative, as non-physical incidents, such as threatening messages and phone calls, were common.[2] Transnational repression conducted by China also escalated since 2014 under Xi Jinping.[1]

Target groups

Uighurs

The Chinese government's transnational repression of Uyghurs includes detentions and forced deportations from countries like Thailand, Turkey, and Egypt, often without due process. Domestically, Uyghurs face passport confiscations in Xinjiang, limiting their travel. Abroad, they encounter digital surveillance and intimidation, where their families in China are sometimes being used as leverages. These actions are part of China's larger strategy in dealing with the Uyghur community under the banner "terrorism, infiltration, and separatism.”[3][4]

Tibetans

Tibetan communities in countries like the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands report surveillance and intimidation from the Chinese government. Chinese agents are involved in monitoring and threatening Tibetans, affecting their ability to criticize China's policies towards Tibet. Family members in China are sometimes used as leverage. The Chinese government also disrupts traditional Tibetan refugee routes in Nepal to India, increasing the risk of repatriation.[5][6][7][8][9]

Falun Gong practitioners

Practitioners of Falun Gong globally face intense scrutiny under China's expansive transnational repression efforts. Chinese operatives, bolstered by foreign pro-Beijing proxies, work to suppress the practitioners' efforts to highlight the ongoing persecution. These individuals have been subjected to a range of coercive tactics including cyberattacks, surveillance, harassment, defamation via misinformation campaigns, and physical violence. Notably, instances of detention involving Falun Gong adherents have been reported in several countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, etc.[10]. A 2021 study by the Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM) documented 79 separate instances of transnational repression targeting Falun Gong practitioners.[11]

Hong Kongers

Hong Kongers are relatively new targets of transnational repression. Small scale repression has been found since 2016 and expanded significantly following Beijing’s National Security Law in 2019.[12] The erosion of democracy triggered a massive exodus. Until early 2022, over 100,000 Hong Kongers went on exile with more expected to leave.[13] Advocates that participated in the protests are especially targeted. They are being followed, harassed, and issued bounty.[12][14]

Former Chinese Government officials

Operation Fox Hunt is part of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign after he came into power in 2014. Its goal is to repatriate Chinese “economic criminals'' that fled abroad. The operation spans across 56 countries, including countries where China does not have extradition treaties, such as the United States and Canada.[15]

Pro-democracy groups/Chinese critics

China targets the broad group of people with harassments, coercion, disinformation, and threats of violence and death. According to a CNN report on a Chinese online operation, “Victims face a barrage of tens of thousands of social media posts that call them traitors, dogs, and racist and homophobic slurs. They say it’s all part of an effort to drive them into a state of constant fear and paranoia.”[16]

Methods of repression

  • Surveillance: Monitoring activities of diaspora communities, employing spyware, stalking, and hacking telecommunications networks​​.[17][18][19]
  • Intimidation and threats: Using family members in China to coerce individuals abroad, physical intimidation, death threats, and phone calls​​.[17][19]
  • Legal and diplomatic pressure: Misusing Interpol Red Notices and leveraging diplomatic ties to influence foreign governments​​.[17][20][19][21]
  • Digital harassment: Deploying cyber tactics to track and intimidate individuals​​.[17][20][18]
  • Control of mobility: Confiscating passports and controlling visa access to limit movement of target groups​​.[17]

Notable cases

  • January 2024: A British pianist YouTuber Brandon Kavanagh was confronted by a group of Chinese nationals in London's St. Pancras railway station. They asked him to stop his livestream and delete the video as they do not want to show their faces. Days after the incident, the piano, donated by Sir Elton John, was sealed off and guarded, allegedly for maintenance.[22] In protest, the pianist returned after the seal was removed with Winnie the Pooh plushie and references to the Tiananmen Square Massacre, both banned by China. He received various threats from CCP supporters online, including death threats.[23]  
  • December 2023: Hong Kong Police issued a 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) reward for information on five individuals involved in the 2019 Hong Kong protests against China's National Security Law, including a U.S. citizen. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized this initiative, referring to it as a "bounty list," and expressed the United States' rejection of such attempts to intimidate and target those who advocate for freedom and democracy.[24]
  • April 2023: In a press release, the Department of Justice announces that it has charged 40 officers from China's national police in cases involving transnational repression schemes targeting individuals in the United States. These officers face charges related to illegal surveillance, harassment, and conspiring to coerce U.S. residents into returning to China. Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division commented that “these cases demonstrate the lengths the PRC government will go to silence and harass U.S. persons who exercise their fundamental rights to speak out against PRC oppression, including by unlawfully exploiting a U.S.-based technology company.”[25]

References

  1. ^ a b "China: Transnational Repression Origin Country Case Study". Freedom House.
  2. ^ "CECC Statement: The Threat of Transnational Repression from China and the U.S. Response". Freedom House. June 21, 2022.
  3. ^ "China: Transnational Repression Origin Country Case Study". Freedom House.
  4. ^ ""We know you better than you know yourself": China's transnational repression of the Uyghur diaspora". University of Sheffield. 2023-10-13.
  5. ^ Verghese, Ashwin (2021-09-02). "NYTimes editorial calls out "transnational repression" of Tibetans". ICT Blog.
  6. ^ "Divide, Depoliticize, and Demobilize: China's Strategies for Controlling the Tibetan Diaspora". Jamestown.
  7. ^ "Tibet special coordinator speaks to media on Olympics, transnational repression". International Campaign for Tibet. January 18, 2022.
  8. ^ "Transnational repression of Tibetans raised at European Parliament conference International Campaign for Tibet - Brussels Office". International Campaign for Tibet - Brussels Office. 2023-11-30.
  9. ^ "Tibet groups write to Dutch PM on Chinese intimidation of Tibetans". International Campaign for Tibet. November 1, 2022.
  10. ^ Schenkkan, Nate; Linzer, Isabel (February 2021). "Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach: The Global Scale and Scope of Transnational Repression" (PDF). Freedom House.
  11. ^ Charon, P., & Jeangène Vilmer, J.-B. (2021, October). Chinese influence operations: A Machiavellian moment. Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM), Ministry for the Armed Forces.
  12. ^ a b "China: Transnational Repression Origin Country Case Study". Freedom House.
  13. ^ Pitrelli, Monica (2022-05-27). "Thousands of people are leaving Hong Kong — and now it's clear where they're going". CNBC.
  14. ^ Vinall, Frances (2023-12-16). "Blinken denounces Hong Kong government's bounties on overseas activists". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  15. ^ Miller, Matthew (November 17, 2014). "China's "Fox Hunt" grabs 288 suspects in worldwide anti-graft net". Reuters.
  16. ^ O'Sullivan, Donie; Devine, Curt; Gordon, Allison (2023-11-14). "China is using the world's largest known online disinformation operation to harass Americans, a CNN review finds". CNN.
  17. ^ a b c d e "China: Transnational Repression Origin Country Case Study". Freedom House.
  18. ^ a b "Office of Public Affairs | 40 Officers of China's National Police Charged in Transnational Repression Schemes Targeting U.S. Residents | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2023-04-17.
  19. ^ a b c Rotella, Sebastian; Berg, Kirsten (2021-07-22). "Operation Fox Hunt: How China Exports Repression Using a Network of Spies Hidden in Plain Sight". ProPublica.
  20. ^ a b ""We know you better than you know yourself": China's transnational repression of the Uyghur diaspora". University of Sheffield. 2023-10-13.
  21. ^ "2009 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission" (PDF). U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. November 2009.
  22. ^ Kuepper, Miriam (2024-01-23). "St Pancras piano 'sealed off' after clash between pianist and tourists". Mail Online.
  23. ^ Lee, Tim; Chung, Ray (January 29, 2024). "London YouTuber hid in van, received death threats after piano face-off". Radio Free Asia.
  24. ^ Vinall, Frances (2023-12-16). "Blinken denounces Hong Kong government's bounties on overseas activists". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  25. ^ "Office of Public Affairs | 40 Officers of China's National Police Charged in Transnational Repression Schemes Targeting U.S. Residents | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2023-04-17.
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