Several Chinese communities in the United States, along with pro-democracy activists and supporters of Taiwan, Tibetan, and Uyghur rights, have accused Beijing of using agents to harass, spy on, and intimidate them. According to a report by the Greek City Times, a US-based human rights group, Freedom House, has documented that China has been linked to the highest number of transnational repression cases worldwide, with 319 incidents recorded since 2014.
In May, a New York man was convicted of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government, with US federal prosecutors alleging that he ran a “secret police station” on behalf of Beijing in Manhattan. Recently, US lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill to impose tougher penalties on foreign government agents who threaten people on American soil, aiming to address the growing “transnational repression” by countries like China.
The bipartisan bill, introduced by Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and Republican Senator John Curtis, follows the implementation of China’s ethnic unity law on July 1, which Beijing claims gives it the right to target certain critics overseas. Schiff emphasized the need to counter this expanding national threat, citing reports of new and bold efforts by countries like China to intimidate those who do not align with the regime.
Transnational repression, as described in the bill, involves activities by a foreign government or its agents that go beyond internationally recognized borders to harass, threaten, coerce, retaliate against, physically harm, kidnap, or kill individuals in the United States. It also includes efforts to hinder people from exercising rights protected under the US Constitution, such as freedom of speech.
US lawmakers and law enforcement agencies have increasingly focused on transnational repression in recent years, pursuing cases involving alleged plots by foreign governments to target dissidents, journalists, and activists residing in the United States.
