The first time Liying* realised she was being watched, she was on her way home from an anti-Beijing protest outside the Chinese embassy in London in 2022. The sky was dark, and Liying – a student in her 20s from China – was walking with a fellow protester, megaphone in hand, when she noticed a stranger lurking behind them. The pair quickened their pace but the man, who looked Chinese, kept following. Ten minutes passed; then 20. Eventually, they ran into a nearby hospital and hid for more than half…
Tag: Transnational repression
China, Russia and Cambodia top list of regimes targeting critics in exile
Scores of attacks, including assassinations, abductions and assaults, were perpetrated by 25 governments last year against people outside their borders, new analysis reveals. Data from the Washington DC-based pro-democracy organisation Freedom House reveals that the governments of Russia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Turkmenistan and China were the biggest five perpetrators of transnational repression in 2023. <gu-island name="GuideAtomWrapper" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"id":"3a74eff0-0c22-4cf5-932b-14ea93e93bd4","title":"Transnational repression","html":" Transnational repression is the use of tactics including electronic surveillance, physical assault, intimidation and threats to family in the home country to silence people living in exile. The Guardian’s Rights and freedom series is publishing…
Beijing accused of using spying, threats and blackmail against Tibetan exiles
Thousands of Tibetans around the world have been subjected to spying, blackmail and threats against family members still living in Tibet, according to a new report. The Chinese government’s repressive policies in Tibet continue to be documented, but the new report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is the first to investigate the widespread targeting of exiles in countries including the US, India, France, Australia and Canada, researchers say. China increasingly aims to stifle debate or criticism from Tibetans, Hongkongers and Uyghurs outside its borders in…
‘We don’t feel safe here’: Hongkongers in UK fear long reach of Chinese government
Ah Man*, 28, was forced to leave Hong Kong at the end of 2020 after being arrested at the height of the pro-democracy protests, when millions took to the streets in defiance of the growing influence of Beijing. But the UK has felt anything but a safe haven for the former Hongkonger after a string of incidents involving Chinese activists. In 2021, pro-democracy campaigners were reportedly attacked in Chinatown, central London; again in 2022 outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester; and once more this summer in Southampton. “Of course there…