Posted on 09/13/2023 1:40:23 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie
The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) transnational repression, a pervasive scheme that extends far beyond its border and quells dissenting voices, came under the spotlight during a U.S. congressional body hearing on Sept. 12.
Witnesses, ranging from lawmakers to dissidents, gave their testimony before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), a bipartisan and bicameral panel.
"The Chinese Communist Party has waged a pervasive, coercive campaign around the world against anyone who does not agree with the party," Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who co-chairs the CECC, said in the opening remarks.
Mr. Smith recounted a giant sculpture in a California park morphing Chinese leader Xi Jinping's head with a Coronavirus molecule. "It was a bold work of art rightfully assigning blame to the CCP and Xi Jinping, in particular, for the horrific pandemic and all the mistakes that were made, especially in the early months that shook the world," he said.
Not long after it was unveiled in June 2021, the statue was vandalized and burned to the ground.
Charges unsealed by federal prosecutors in 2022 alleged three Chinese agents plotted to destroy the artwork and, more importantly, spy on the Los Angeles-based sculptor, who is critical of the CCP. The Justice Department accused the men of aiding the regime's "transnational repression scheme" to silence dissidents living in the United States.
Unfortunately, that is not a rare case, Mr. Smith said.
Echoing his comments, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chair of the CECC, described the number of uncovered cases related to the CCP's transnational repression, both in the United States and other countries, as "disturbing."
But there are likely to be countless cases that are not being reported on, he said.
"I imagine that for every case, we hear there's another 10, we don't know about," said Mr. Merkley.
Earlier this year, Mr. Merkley introduced a bipartisan bill, the Transnational Repression Policy Act, together with Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). The legislative proposal, he said, is aimed at holding "foreign governments and individuals accountable when they stalk, intimidate, or assault people across borders."
Yana Gorokhovskaia, research director for strategy and design at Washington-based think tank Freedom House, said the Chinese regime accounted for about 30 percent of all incidents of physical transnational repression her organization recorded.
"China is carrying out the world's most sophisticated and comprehensive campaign of transnational repression using a wide array of physical, digital, and psychological tactics to attempt to silence those abuse as a threat," Ms. Gorokhovskaia said.
The sweeping campaign targets a diverse array of overseas Chinese, including journalists, students, artists, and religious groups like Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Falun Gong practitioners, she said.
It also includes "anyone else who is brave enough to criticize the Chinese Communist Party," she added, such as legislators.Harassing LawmakerMichael Chong, a Canadian member of Parliament who was targeted by the Chinese regime, said his story illustrates how Beijing's translational repression or foreign interference works.
Mr. Chong, an opposition Conservative Party member, has often criticized the regime's repression inside and outside China since he was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2020. Notably, he introduced a motion that declared Beijing’s abuse of Uyghur Muslims in the far-western Xinjiang region amounted to genocide, which the Canadian parliament later passed. The communist regime later responded by imposing sanctions on Mr. Chong along with two U.S. religious freedom officials.
In May, Mr. Chong learned through a Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail, that since 2020 a Chinese diplomat had gathered information to target him and his family in Hong Kong. The publication cited a July 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and the existence of the internal assessment was later confirmed by the Canadian government, he said.
Mr. Chong learned last month that he and his family members were targeted by an online disinformation campaign in which the Canadian government said the CCP likely played a role.
The false narratives about him popped up on Chinese-language social media, particularly on WeChat, he said. The operation persisted for about a week in May.
"This is corrosive," he said, noting there are over 1 million WeChat users in Canada and roughly 5 million across the world. "They have weaponized Chinese language social media [and] Chinese media, such as CGTN, the state broadcaster."
The Chinese Communist Party has waged a pervasive, coercive campaign around the world against anyone who does not agree with the party.
The Chinese have the worlds deepest bunker 1600 feet under ground and hold over 1 million for more than a year.
The Sun UK today
They are in for the long haul to make everyone a communist.
Unless they are made 1959 again there will be one world order them.
The Chinese Communist Party has waged a pervasive, coercive campaign around the world against anyone who does not agree with the party.
The Chinese have the worlds deepest bunker 1600 feet under ground and hold over 1 million for more than a year.
The Sun UK today
They are in for the long haul to make everyone a communist.
Unless they are made 1959 again there will be one world order them.
Bkmk.
I enjoyed reading your response and its very true but....
but what will take place between China & the WEFfers?
would China bow to the WEFfers? or be subsumed by them?
China doesn’t bow to anything they use the 100 years plan and work if in 5 years stages.
The plan the long game
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