Webinar Clip: The Broader Issue of Transnational Repression

So, as Levi mentioned, I am the Senior Fellow of Foreign Affairs and Security Studies at the National Association of Scholars, or NAS. And the influence of Communist China and the Chinese Communist Party is something that's basically become one of the hallmarks of our expertise. And over the last few years, it's something that we've developed an expertise in, in the sense of how pervasive it is. It's something that we didn't expect to find as pervasive as it is, both at the K through 12 level, but also at universities and even beyond. And when I was invited to guest moderate this, I was eager to offer my assistance. Because this is an issue that's, everyone's familiar with authoritarianism and the risks that authoritarianism poses in different countries, whether it be to civil rights, human rights. And over the past several years, particularly as China's forcibly reabsorbed Hong Kong, Russia's invaded Ukraine, you've seen crackdowns in Iran and elsewhere, the issue of transnational repression is something that doesn't get discussed very much. And transnational repression is a little different in that this is repression by authoritarian countries on dissidents across national, international borders. So this is not only an issue of sovereignty, but it's also an issue of human rights and something that doesn't get discussed very much. So I was eager to accept the offer to guest moderate for for this institution. So Freedom House last year came out with a report called Still Not Safe, Transnational Repression in 2022. And it documented since 2014, almost 1000 incidents of physical repression and coercion committed by 38 different governments around the world across 91 different countries. And last year alone, 79 of these incidents were documented and committed by a total of 20 different governments. And some of these are familiar, Russia, China being foremost among them, but also other governments that don't get as much scrutiny for this, such as Turkey and Tajikistan. And this has taken on a greater importance as these authoritarian regimes have not only started collaborating with each other increasingly at the geopolitical level, but also in light of recent events such as the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and China's growing influence around the world. So with that, I'd like to introduce a fabulous panel of experts. We're going to talk about this issue. And this is kind of a unique opportunity in that the experts you're going to see here talk about this from three very different vantage points on this issue. And this is kind of neat how this occurs because Cynthia is a lead researcher at the Falun Dafa Information Center and recently authored her own report, Surveillance, Slander and Censorship, How the Chinese Communist Party's Persecution Impacts Falun Gong Believers on U.S. University Campuses. And she's also one of the experts on how this group, this movement, Falun Gong, has been a target of choice by the Chinese Communist Party. So she offers kind of a movement-specific view of this. And at the same time, you have Grady Vaughn, who's a research associate at Freedom House, and he offers kind of an international perspective on this issue and how it's not just China, although China is arguably at the forefront in terms of its size. And he was one of the lead authors of Still Not Safe, that report that I mentioned that documents the increasing frequency at which authoritarian regimes are reaching across international borders, including into the United States, and working with each other to do so. Emily is a graduate student of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and was the president of University of Pennsylvania's Falun Gong Club up until a couple years ago in 2021. And she offers kind of a firsthand account of the reprisals that dissidents of the Chinese Communist Party face and how they face these reprisals across international boundaries, including in the United States, where constitutional rights have not been rescinded, but nonetheless, groups like the Chinese Communist Party have decided to spy on their dissidents within American borders. So with that, I would like to hand it over to Grady. Thank you, Ian, for the kind introduction, and thank you to the Randolph Information Center for having me today to share information about transnational oppression perpetrated by the People's Republic of China and other authoritarian governments. I'll first briefly discuss some key findings from our latest database update in April 2023, including which countries are among the worst perpetrators of transnational oppression. I will then focus on the comprehensive campaign of transnational oppression carried out by the PRC and the increasingly innovative tactics employed by the Chinese government to intimidate and harass exiles. Transnational oppression occurs when governments reach across borders to silence dissent among exile and diaspora communities. At Freedom House, we have created a global data set of direct physical incidents of transnational oppression since 2014, as Ian pointed out. By direct physical incidents, we refer to the use of tactics such as assassinations, assaults, arrests, legal deportations, and abductions, among other tactics. Our April update to the data set includes 854 cases, so we're nearing 1,000, as Ian said. This number is a conservative estimate, as we only include publicly reported cases that we can verify. Additionally, many of the incidents on university campuses may not appear on the data set because the tactics are not always physical. We have found 38 countries to engage in transnational oppression. The top five worst perpetrators of transnational oppression are China, Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, and Egypt. China alone accounts for 30% of all reported incidents of transnational oppression. It's important to note that cooperation between authoritarian governments is a key factor in driving transnational oppression. In 70% of the cases we recorded in 2022, both the origin and the host country are rated not free by Freedom House. While authoritarian governments around the world regularly seek to intimidate exiles, the PRC conducts the most sophisticated and comprehensive campaign of transnational oppression. In our data set, China accounts for double the number of cases as the PRC has targeted exiles in 36 countries, ranging from neighboring authoritarian states to democracies further afield. China's transnational pursuit of exiles represents only one part of its multi-pronged mission to spread its influence abroad through funding media and establishing joint security initiatives. This far-reaching campaign of transnational oppression stands out for several reasons. First, Beijing sets its sights not only on human rights defenders, journalists, political dissidents, and former insiders, but also on entire communities of religious and ethnic minorities. Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Falun Gong practitioners are among the main victims of this indiscriminate targeting. Increasingly, outspoken members of the Hong Kong diaspora have also found themselves caught in the dragnet as pro-Beijing authorities in Hong Kong have applied the national security law extraterritorially to call for the arrest of wanted activists. Mainland Chinese students who dare to speak out have also become a prime group targeted by the PRC. Each incident targeting a member of one of these groups often yields a ripple effect, scaring the colleagues and family members of affected individuals, infringing upon their fundamental rights, and sowing distrust among wider diaspora communities. Second, the PRC has capitalized on its global influence to manipulate the security and migration institutions of post governments around the world. Beijing uses extradition treaties and legal agreements with other countries to facilitate the return of wanted individuals. Owing to its considerable geopolitical influence and leverage over other countries, the PRC has been able to get other countries to detain individuals and crack down on diaspora activism. A prime example of this increasing cooperation can be seen in China's relations with Turkey. Long considered a safe haven for Uyghurs fleeing China, Turkey has in recent years become less welcoming to Uyghurs due to Ankara's growing economic ties with Beijing. Interpol abuse is another facet of this international security cooperation employed by the PRC to secure the detention and deportation of exiles. China has used the International Police Organization to target ethnic and religious minorities, as well as former insiders accused of corruption under its Operation FOXHUNT. In March 2021, China successfully requested Interpol to issue a red notice against Uyghur activist Idris Hassan. Upon his arrival at the Casablanca airport in Morocco, Hassan was detained on the basis of this red notice. Although Interpol eventually retroactively invalidated this red notice, Hassan has been in detention ever since, facing the imminent threat of deportation. Even when a red notice does not result in the detention of a wanted individual, this designation may make it difficult for the individual to travel or conduct important financial transactions. Finally, the PRC's campaign of transnational oppression relies on a variety of diverse and innovative tactics. The physical incidents of transnational oppression described above that are perpetrated by the PRC are only the tip of the iceberg. Beyond these cases which garner most of the media attention, the PRC's toolkit includes more everyday forms of transnational oppression, such as digital surveillance, online threats, and mobility controls. A quite popular tactic for the PRC and other authoritarian regimes around the globe is coercion by proxy or the punishment of relatives and friends of the exile back home. Security officials stay in close contact with the relatives of diaspora members and monitor phone calls between those abroad and their loved ones. Security agents have also been known to use these phone calls as a bargaining chip, threatening to cut off lines of contact if a diaspora member refuses to spy and report on other members of the diaspora. Over the last year, Beijing has begun to wield new and increasingly brazen tools to complicate the lives of individuals in exile. These innovations leave targets and law enforcement in the host countries on the back foot as victims must combat new efforts to tarnish their reputations in often elaborate manners. Reports have recently emerged of individuals operating on behalf of the PRC using false threats or emergency calls to trigger local police action against targeted individuals. This tactic, known as swatting, brings unwanted police attention upon the targeted individual. For example, Germany-based radio free Asia journalist Su Yutong found out that beginning in October 2022, unnamed individuals called in bomb threats under her name and the names of two other exiles to luxury hotels in at least six countries. Su, who has also been the victim of other forms of transnational oppression listed above, told Voice of America that she had the undisclosed location for safety reasons as a result of this targeting. Student activists from the PRC comprise a group that is particularly exposed to these more widespread everyday tactics of transnational oppression. Something so little as posting a message in commemoration of the Tiananmen Square protests or in solidarity with pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters may elicit a visit from security officials to a student's family members back home in China. On their university and college campuses in the United States, students who dare to share these opinions in class or organize human rights-themed events risk sparking backlash from pro-government Chinese students, as I'm sure other speakers will discuss in greater detail. Any expression of public opposition to the Chinese government's policies is often met with fierce opposition and denunciations on social media platforms. Over the last year and a half, student art displays and posters critical of Beijing at George Washington University have been reported by the university's Chinese Student and Scholar Association to campus administrators for allegedly insulting China. Likewise, last year, a student was assaulted during a demonstration at Columbia University. Absent a broader acknowledgement by universities of the negative effects of this sort of harassment on the academic freedom that this sort of harassment has on the academic freedom of international students and the adoption of policies to address this issue, this problem will only persist. Acts of transnational oppression do not only undermine the human rights and security of targeted individuals. They also threaten the rule of law and democratic governance and violate the sovereignty of host countries. The ever-evolving nature of China's and other countries' transnational oppression campaigns requires a firm and coordinated response by host countries and multilateral institutions to signal their commitment to human rights and democratic values. Thank you, and I look forward to any questions you may have.