1. What is the CCP's transnational repression?

The Chinese Communist Party not only holds a strong grip over all the media inside China’s Great Fire Wall (GFW), but also tries to manipulate media and public opinion in democratic countries by transnational repression and coercion. Reports and investigative news show that the Chinese government has been systematically and actively repressing the free expression of overseas dissidents and forcing the overseas Chinese to bend public opinions to their will and spy on dissidents.

• The FBI on transnational repression: https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/counterintelligence/transnational-repression
• (Must read) Report of the CCP's transnational repression: Transnational Repression: The Chinese Communist Party represses all who speak out against them
• Example of the CCP taking down petition on the US website by harassing the activist's family members: 海外网站声援中国异议人士　却遭国保找上门
• Example of the CCP forcing their victims into espionage: 国保不仅监控中国留学生言论，还胁迫他们“戴罪立功”当卧底 
• Example of the CCP's attempt to manipulating the US media: 600 U.S. Groups Linked to Chinese Communist Party Influence Effort with Ambition Beyond Election

People who openly criticized Xi Jinping and the CCP could be targeted, harassed, assaulted, or even kidnapped and imprisoned. The identity of anonymous overseas dissidents could be pinpointed by Chinese surveillance police via data breached from websites and social media platforms, social engineering, and other resources. Even if the dissidents themselves are safe and well protected overseas, as long as they have family members in China, the police will use their family members as leverage and force them to take down their articles or go back to China to surrender.

The CCP's transnational repression can manipulate our public opinion under the radar: since most of the deletions or modification of the content are done by the author, it will not leave a single sign of cyber attack. The CCP is remote-controlling the global media, with the platforms and the websites having no clue at all. What's worse, some victims of transnational suppression may be forced into espionage, causing further damage. 

Being caught in the crossfire between two superpowers, Chinese people living in the US are having a much more difficult time than ever. As one of my fellow Chinese points out, Chinese people “do not enjoy the same freedoms as their peers, and are routinely surveilled by Chinese embassies and consulates”. Many even fear that if they honestly and openly express their antipathy to Xi Jinping and the CCP, other pro-CCP Chinese would peach on them. Besides, the risk of being blackmailed and coerced by the CCP put overseas Chinese into greater danger of also falling victim to racism. In short, transnational repression endangers Chinese communities and causes estrangement on a daily basis.

 

2. Current situation is far from satisfactory

However, to our best knowledge, the US government hasn't built any equal nation-wide system to confront it, or at least, the existing efforts are too scattered or unknown to efficiently help those whom the CCP would harass and make use of. According to our pilot survey, more than half of the victims of the CCP harassment chose not to report to law enforcement, and a third of people who reported didn't get a satisfactory result. In the interviews of a target/victim of the CCP's transnational repression, the person says they don't think the repression "is severe enough to report" despite that the harassment continued for months because "the Chinese police didn't beat up anyone after all", "they were just asking questions". 

The CCP spares no effort to censor our media and distort our public opinions via transnational repression, but the US society and overseas dissidents haven't been well aware of it nor well prepared. 

Freedom of speech is the foundation of our democracy and national security, and now this foundation is eroded by the CCP transnational repression and the lack of countermeasures from democratic countries. It is high time to make a difference.

 

3. What can the US authorities do?

Instead of treating people who come from China as if they were the CCP spy, the US authorities and public should recognize that the targets of transnational repression are at risk of being harassed and coerced and lend them a helping hand. The US government should collect the information of the CCP's transnational repression, systematically prevent it, and protect the targets/victims.

The information on the CCP transnational repression can be priceless if properly collected and analyzed. For example, when the CCP henchmen interrogate the overseas victims and their family members, the police will inevitably show some proof of how they link articles or accounts outside the GFW to the very person. The proof they show, their wording and the information the victims are forced to submit during the interrogation contain clues of how they may have obtained the personal information and how badly the data breaching could have been. Timely and widely collecting and analyzing this type of information will not only alert us of data breaching and espionage, but also help us accurately assess the scope of the CCP’s long-arm media manipulation. 

The US authorities should legislate to systematically and actively prevent the transnational repression and support the targets/victims. Here we list some options for the authorities to consider:

1. The US government should give more detailed and more frequently-updated official guidelines on how to report cases of transnational repression and openly encourage the victims to report regardless of the extent of the repression. Hopefully, law enforcement like the FBI can provide a special hotline and a specific category in the existing FBI online tips system.
2. The US government and law enforcement should provide timely advice, personal protection, and, if necessary, financial and medical support to the victims to minimize the damage caused by the harassment. The employers of the victims should not discriminate against the victims and should provide full support including paid days off if needed.
3. Besides holding the accountability of people or entities that participate or facilitate transnational repression, the FBI and other law enforcement should actively collect and analyze the information of transnational repression, alert the public to its harm, and advise the public on how to detect the sign of transnational repression and prevent it.

By systematically and actively preventing the CCP's transnational repression and protecting the victims, we will better protect the free speech and public opinion in the USA from being maliciously distorted. Please sign the petition and share it especially to your congresspeople and senators to make them act.  

 

Picture courtesy to Peter Brookes Cartoon 08. 02. 2020. Masking the truth.

IMPORTANT:

If you live in the USA and have already experienced transnational repression by the CCP, please report to the FBI. Google "FBI tips" and you will find the online reporting system.

If you are concerned about being tracked by the CCP: please copy and paste the link or content of the petition and send it to your congresspeople and senator. You can also register a new account to sign the petition. The template of letter to your congresspeople and senators is here

重要提示：

如果您生活在美国并且遭遇了中共的跨国镇压，不管他们是骚扰了你在国内的家人还是海外粉红/国保骚扰了你本人，请报告给FBI。搜“FBI tips”会找到网上报案系统。

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