With the comprehensive upgrade of the Chinese Communist Party’s prevention of “overseas relations,” personnel within the system are facing unprecedented social control. A reporter’s investigation found that judicial system personnel are generally avoiding meeting old friends returning from overseas. According to informed government officials, such contact has been included in the reporting and political review system, and China’s social control is transforming towards a “semi-closed” state.
A hidden rule that used to mainly exist in sensitive positions is now spreading throughout the entire Communist Party system. Mr. Liu, an individual within the Communist Party’s judicial system, told a reporter from The Epoch Times that since early January of this year, relevant notices have been issued within the public security, procuratorate, and judicial systems. Personnel with foreign backgrounds are considered potential sources of risk and are required to avoid contact, report, and in serious cases, even cut off contact. Formerly private relationships with classmates, old friends, are now subject to scrutiny and reporting.
Mr. Liu said, “Currently, there is tight prevention of contact with overseas individuals from higher authorities. These individuals are generally your old classmates, old friends, online friends, and relatives. The main concern is the risk of leaking confidential information. Some people might unintentionally reveal internal situations, including ongoing sensitive matters such as the arrest of corrupt officials, or events like the Zhang Yuxia incident. I believe it’s not only in the public security, procuratorial, and judicial systems, but also in the city and district governments.”
Mr. Huang Kunming (pseudonym), who resides in San Francisco, returned to China in early March this year. He expressed to reporters upon returning to the United States that the experience this time was drastically different from three years ago. He said, “I contacted a middle school classmate working in the public security system in Shijiazhuang, invited him to meet three times, but he did not respond. Another time we agreed to have a gathering, but the classmate initially agreed and then absented himself, not answering calls.”
Huang Kunming mentioned that later through another classmate, he learned that the classmate working in the public security bureau has internal discipline, and contact with overseas individuals requires approval from superiors: “You need to explain the background of the person you are meeting, especially for classmates coming from the United States, there needs to be an internal review, so he dared not meet me privately.”
He also mentioned hearing about the so-called “walking 500,000” in China in the past, encouraging reporting of spies with a maximum reward of 500,000 RMB, “This time, I really felt this atmosphere from my classmates.”
Another engineer, Ms. Song Xuan (pseudonym), who immigrated to the UK early in her life, had a similar experience. She said to The Epoch Times reporter, “An official working in a ministry under the State Council, after receiving my meeting invitation, did not respond through the usual WeChat but called through a family member, clearly stating that it was inconvenient to meet due to work relations, saying ‘there’s always time in the future.'”
Ms. Song Xuan mentioned that after several years of not returning to China, it was unexpected that the authorities’ vigilance towards overseas Chinese had reached such a level, with a noticeably increased wariness towards foreign personnel: “It’s too frightening, how can this regime be so fearful, are they about to go to war? It’s so absurd.”
Since the implementation of the revised “Counter-Espionage Law” by the Chinese Communist Party in 2023, there has been a mobilization and reporting mechanism with the theme of “all people against espionage” in many places. Vigilance on foreign contacts has significantly heightened in various regions, with related restrictions continually tightening in practical operation.
Internal documents leaked from many places in the past show that public officials are required to fill out a “Registration Form for Relatives’ Overseas Situations,” and any unreported contact may lead to political review sanctions. A netizen “Soul of Freedom” said, “This is to cut off people’s connections with the outside world, making people live only within the information it sets.”
Zhou Liang (pseudonym), who used to work at Tianjin Customs, told reporters that shortly after returning from Australia, he invited a former colleague working at the Customs to a meal, but the colleague refused the dinner citing a busy schedule: “My classmate told me he’s very busy recently, so we skipped the meal. ‘I’ll pick up my child tomorrow, let’s meet at the school gate.’ In the end, we had a brief chat at the school gate. He mentioned that even if colleagues saw us, it didn’t matter as there are cameras here, it’s a public place, and it could be considered a chance encounter.”
Zhou Liang noted that this Customs colleague revealed that contact with overseas returnees required reporting within the unit, so choosing to briefly interact in a public space could be explained as an accidental encounter, thereby reducing the risk.
In response to the aforementioned changes, a senior media professional in Tianjin, Mr. Deng, told reporters that this shows that the management logic of the CCP has extended from “behavioral control” to “relationship control.” He pointed out that authorities are no longer just focusing on the behavior of public officials in their positions but are including interpersonal networks and social interactions in the risk assessment system. This method of control is cutting off contacts inside and outside the system, making many public officials more cautious in their everyday interactions.