In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party’s long-arm jurisdiction has been increasingly aggressive, with international students becoming one of the affected groups. Persecuted international students informed a reporter from the Epoch Times that the cross-border crackdown is illegal, stating, “Various pressures on international students still exist to this day.”
The investigation report “I Am Afraid in My Campus” released by Amnesty International on May 12, details the cross-border repression of international students by the Chinese Communist Party. This report is the result of Amnesty International’s investigation from June 2023 to April 2024, focusing on Chinese (including Hong Kong and Macau) international students studying abroad in eight countries in Europe and North America.
Amnesty International, founded in May 1961 with headquarters in London, is an international non-governmental organization. The term “cross-border repression” in the report refers to the Chinese authorities suppressing, controlling, or obstructing dissent and criticism of overseas Chinese students and others, violating human rights.
China is one of the most significant sources of international students for Western countries. In recent years, many overseas students have engaged in open criticism of the Chinese government, including through activities commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, the 2019 Hong Kong democratic protests, and the 2022 “Four-Commune Bridge” anniversary events. Their involvement has provoked responses from the Chinese authorities, such as harassment and intimidation of students’ families in China and monitoring of students’ overseas activities and online speech.
The Chinese authorities restrict academic freedom and other rights outside China. Amnesty International found that the most apparent and widespread cross-border repression against students relies on a strategy of threatening or harassing students’ families in China to cease their participation in overseas political activities.
Amnesty International interviewed 32 Chinese international students. Many of the interviewed students emphasized living in constant fear of potential surveillance and repression by the Chinese government while studying abroad. This fear has resulted in social isolation and loneliness, leading to significant mental stress.
The fear instigated by the crackdown has led to a widespread “chilling effect” on students’ speech, association, and activities both on and off university campuses, affecting their career choices. Students are even afraid to speak publicly in class, fearing that their remarks will be reported to the Chinese authorities if Chinese students or professors are present.
Research shows that the fear experienced by overseas Chinese students from China is often not understood by their peers, causing them to feel socially isolated. Some students have voluntarily severed contact with their families to protect them from harassment by the Chinese authorities. Under pressure, some parents have stopped supporting their children financially.
Due to the atmosphere of fear created by cross-border repression, the living conditions of Chinese international students have also come under threat. A European student told Amnesty International that after media coverage of their participation in a protest against a Chinese white paper, they were evicted by their landlord, a Chinese citizen, from the apartment they were renting. They even struggled to find work in Chinese restaurants or companies.
Students participating in overseas protest activities have faced physical surveillance or even physical attacks; some have been followed home by unidentified individuals, subjected to “night-long” door knocking, and even received death threats.
California international student Wang Hao told the Epoch Times that he participated in the Blank Paper Movement in Shenzhen, Guangdong in November 2022, was arrested by the police, signed a confession, and was subsequently expelled from school, marked as withdrawing voluntarily. After studying abroad, the Chinese embassy and domestic police called him, but he did not answer.
During the APEC meeting in November last year, he attended a protest against Xi Jinping in San Francisco. That night, his mother sent a message on WeChat saying that the police were looking for them, and the next day and following day, his parents were unreachable. Later, his mother said his father was kicked by the police at the police station, not provided with the food, and not allowed to sleep, resulting in poor physical condition when released. His mother advised him not to make statements online anymore.
“My father’s business was also affected. To protect them, I stopped updating my Twitter (X). They arranged for my dad to be blacklisted to prevent him from transferring money to me to make me return to China. When I tried to pay half of my semester’s rent with my China Merchants Bank savings card, the balance went from 150,000 yuan to 0. The bank accused me of fraud and said I had to return to China offline to see a certain police officer.” The financial cutoff made Wang Hao’s life difficult, and he had to apply for political asylum from the U.S. government, currently waiting for a work permit.
Regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s transnational persecution, Wang Hao stated, “I believe this is entirely a matter of infringing on the sovereignty of other countries. The foundation of international law is territorial principle, and we are protected by the U.S. Constitution on this land, have the rights granted by the U.S. Constitution, including freedom of speech. Therefore, long-arm jurisdiction is entirely illegitimate, and these Chinese spies must be legally punished.”
Los Angeles international student Zhang Junjie came to the U.S. to study at the age of fifteen or sixteen, starting with language school and later attending university. His parents also immigrated to the U.S., reuniting the family. In 2019, amid the Hong Kong extradition protests, Zhang Junjie became involved in supporting the Hong Kong democratic movement and joined the Chinese Democratic Party in late November 2019.
“Because I have many Hong Kong friends, I feel very sympathetic with the plight of my Hong Kong brothers and sisters. If I were in the U.S. and didn’t speak out for these Chinese democratic dissenters, I would feel ashamed of my education and conscience. In fact, up until now, various pressures on international students still exist.”
Due to his participation in protests at the Chinese Consulate and interviews with Voice of America, Zhang Junjie’s relatives in China faced threats from China’s national security. In January 2020, China’s national security contacted his aunt and cousin, with his cousin warning him not to return to China, as he had already been registered with the police.
Zhang Junjie mentioned a female university student in her early twenties who had been pursued by Guangdong State Security Bureau after participating in a single event. State security visited her home, threatening her parents with their jobs and frightening her younger brother, causing the young girl to refrain from further participation.
“I can completely understand this; not everyone can be as outspoken.” Zhang Junjie continued, “This cross-border repression by the CCP is extremely shameless; it uses threats to one’s family in China and preys on others’ weaknesses to achieve compromise. I think first and foremost, this method is utterly shameless.”
“If the CCP truly doesn’t want opposition, then it should first reflect on its own problems. Sustaining its rule through violence and lies is ultimately not sustainable. Throughout history, China has had a saying, ‘Preventing people from talking is better than preventing rivers,’ showing that collective punishment can better reveal the tyranny of the CCP. Such means not only fail to stop opposition but also increase people’s internal hatred for the CCP’s rule.”
Zhang Junjie believes that the CCP’s control methods are primarily threefold: brainwashing, inducements, and intimidation and threats.
He noted that most students studying abroad come from affluent backgrounds, and many Chinese international students do not have a full understanding of the U.S. or even China. Long indoctrinated by the CCP, they can be easily misled if the CCP slightly manipulates them.
For example, in February 2023, at an event commemorating Dr. Li Wenliang outside the Chinese consulate, a young patriotic Chinese national pushed over Dr. Li’s picture, and berated the protesting crowd as “traitors and sellouts to the nation.” Subsequently, this individual was apprehended by the police.
“Li Wenliang was a whistleblower, and regardless of one’s values, from a basic ethical standpoint, it’s entirely right to commemorate Li Wenliang. Li Wenliang was neither a traitor nor a sellout; so how can commemorating him be considered treacherous? It doesn’t add up logically,” Zhang Junjie stated.
He specifically referenced that most Chinese student unions are influenced by official CCP doctrine, often inviting officials from the Chinese consulate to events during Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival. These student unions are targets of CCP united front work with extensive ties to official CCP entities.
“Some people are motivated by financial temptation to help the CCP. When persuasion through benefits and ideological brainwashing does not work, they resort to threats and intimidation against us,” Zhang Junjie pointed out.
Amnesty International’s report indicates that the CCP’s ability to monitor the activities of Chinese international students overseas and subject them to cross-border repression partly stems from its extensive censorship and digital surveillance capabilities. In Amnesty International’s interviews, nearly one-third of students faced censorious treatment on Chinese social media platforms similar to mainland China, despite being abroad.
Zhang Junjie highlighted that the CCP uses various monitoring methods, with WeChat being one. His WeChat account has been suspended multiple times due to comments and articles in politically active groups, often reported by political zealots and internet trolls.
One incident profoundly affected him. To ensure information security, he switched to Telegram, a local social app. However, while discussing supporting the software developer Programmer Thinker Ruan Xiaohuan with a friend from Shanghai, on the day of last year’s June 4th commemoration event, his Telegram account was suddenly hacked. In total, over forty individuals’ Telegram accounts were hijacked that day, leading to the arrest of his Shanghai friend by national security. Since then, the friend has been under surveillance and limited contact with the outside world.
The CCP heavily engages in overseas united front work and cross-border repression. Zhang Junjie believes this is due to overseas Chinese, including international students, being a crucial political force. Since the late Qing dynasty, overseas Chinese have played a substantial role in political change, with many officers of the Beiyang New Army and early Communist Party members originating from overseas Chinese groups.
“They are well aware that once overseas Chinese and international student communities align politically with overseas Chinese opposition parties and overseas Chinese democratic parties to affect Chinese society, it poses a significant threat to the CCP’s rule. Therefore, the CCP utilizes various methods to engage in united front work, division, intimidation, and persecution of overseas Chinese, including threats and coercion. This is my opinion,” Zhang Junjie said.
Amnesty International calls on the Chinese government and the Hong Kong administration to cease all forms of cross-border repression and urges all government institutions to fully recognize that cross-border repression threatens human rights, condemning the CCP’s cross-border repression. Universities also have a responsibility to adopt specific policies and procedures that can protect international students and safeguard academic freedom.
From a legal standpoint, the report points out that according to international human rights law and standards, international students studying anywhere have the right to enjoy the same basic rights as any other individual, with both their home country and host country obligated to respect, protect, and fulfill these rights.
Wang Hao expressed gratitude for the ample assistance provided by the U.S. government and universities to him, including financial aid. “There has been much support for our protection, but it’s clearly not enough. I hope that the CCP spies and those violating The Communist Control Act of 1954 can be arrested. Many international students have been working for the CCP, persecuting classmates from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, and other students with different political beliefs.”
Zhang Junjie believes that overseas institutions and universities can help international students experiencing transnational persecution in three ways.
He stated that the best way is to support China’s democratization, with schools and institutions themselves having a clear stand. When engaging in cooperation with China, U.S. schools and institutions should not compromise with the CCP, especially regarding values. The premise of Sino-American cooperation is based on an equal relationship, with cooperating parties to acknowledge American values and campus culture.
Secondly, more protection should be granted to Chinese students. For example, some students faced online harassment from Chinese netizens for praising U.S. free speech, with their parents’ personal information exposed, causing significant harm and distress to them and their families. The U.S. should offer political protection to these international students and safeguard their families, such as providing various visas to enable them to live in the U.S.
Lastly, U.S. schools or institutions should hold more public lectures. Due to the lack of systematic civic and democratic education in China, international students and young nationalists may not have fully formed values. Particularly, since the CCP’s epidemic lockdown, many individuals have undergone a change in mindset. It is essential to capitalize on this opportunity to increase public education and promote democratic knowledge in China.