Chinese students studying abroad participating in democracy activities or relevant discussions are being summoned or harassed by the Chinese police their families in China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using fear tactics to silence the students, attempting to control the speech and actions of Chinese students overseas, making them afraid to openly express opposition to the CCP. However, some students believe that the threats from the CCP are ineffective.
According to a report released in May by Amnesty International, Chinese students in North America and Europe are being monitored at protests and online; while their families in China are being targeted and intimidated by the police.
On May 26, Voice of America reported that on June 4 last year, Teng Zihuan, a recent graduate student from a university in the United States, came to the state capitol in Austin, Texas, to hold up a sign explaining the Tiananmen Square incident. That day, he noticed some Chinese faces staring at him, taking pictures.
Teng Zihuan mentioned that he held the belief that he was just speaking the truth and had done nothing wrong, without wearing a mask or disguises, and did not mind the actions of those people.
A week later, Teng Zihuan’s Weibo and Douyin accounts were suddenly permanently banned, even though he had not posted sensitive content before.
Teng Zihuan’s parents live in Jiangsu, China, and are entrepreneurs. They received a call from the police station, informing them of an extremely urgent matter that required their immediate presence at the police station.
At the police station, three police officers surrounded Teng Zihuan’s parents, checking their phones. The police examined Teng Zihuan’s circle of friends on his father’s phone, then proceeded to question them and take statements. The police told them, “Your son has been misled by overseas organizations and participated in ‘anti-China’ activities in the United States, reported by ‘patriotic’ overseas students.”
Teng Zihuan was perplexed, as the so-called anti-China organization mentioned by the police was actually a solo initiative he took for the June 4 protest. He had not been incited by anyone, only wanted to speak the truth. He wasn’t even in China, so why couldn’t he speak? Was even here under the jurisdiction of the CCP?
Sarah Brooks, director of the China division at Amnesty International, told Voice of America that these students are usually not high-profile and not public figures. They might have participated spontaneously in a June 4 memorial event or posted posters in support of the White Paper Movement.
Brooks said that the Chinese government puts pressure on the parents of students, asking them to persuade their children to stop participating in any form of advocacy activities. Otherwise, parents might face threats to their freedom of movement, including not being allowed to leave China to visit their children, as well as facing difficulties in the workplace and the risk of losing their pension.
When Teng Zihuan learned that his parents were being monitored, he was surprised, as he considered himself an ordinary student, not an activist. Yet, his parents received warnings from the police department and were even added to the surveillance list by the community management committee. Furthermore, he wondered about the connection between his actions overseas and his parents in China.
During the questioning, the police told Teng Zihuan’s mother, “If your son continues to engage in ‘anti-China’ activities overseas, we will take corresponding measures against you.”
Teng Zihuan’s father said to the police, “We haven’t seen him for over three years, he’s also an adult in his twenties, he might not tell us everything, we truly do not know.”
Zhou Fengsu, executive director of the Human Rights Organization, told Voice of America that Chinese who openly participate in commemorating the Tiananmen incident and other democratic activities in the United States are still a minority, as most people remain silent due to CCP monitoring and instilled fear. He stated that the CCP causes panic by restricting return visits to China, harassing families, and more. Most of the time, if more people ignore it, it won’t matter. He believes that overseas Chinese need to overcome this fear and step forward.
Teng Zihuan mentioned that while the Chinese authorities intimidated his parents in China, they did not dare to take action against him personally in the United States. He believed that in the rule of law in the U.S., he had more room to speak about the true situation in China, and the threats posed by the CCP to students overseas were relatively limited.
After this incident, Teng Zihuan’s conviction to speak the truth remained unshaken. Seeing through the fear created by the CCP, he stated that his determination grew stronger.
Brooks from Amnesty International believes that the threats and harm caused by the CCP government to students are primarily psychological. Students experience self-censorship, fearing that someone would know about their involvement in human rights discussions, living in anxiety and fear, which has a very harmful impact on their mental health. “The Chinese government should stop this harassment and allow these students to study freely without fear.”