Some Chinese students in Canada accuse the Chinese government of targeting them and their families back in China with online threats and harassment as part of a campaign to crack down on anti-government dissidents abroad. I am doing it.
Ruohui Yang is one of those students. He said he came to Canada in 2015 when he was 15 years old because his parents wanted him to study abroad.
In Canada, he said he began learning about his home country, including details of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, which challenge the Chinese government’s interpretation.
“Mainland China has its own way of expressing this incident, this genocide. We just argued that this was not a genocide, that not so many people died,” Yang said. told CBC. the house.
“I’m starting to realize…this is [protest] The movement received support from almost the entire population, including officials, police, military and government. And everyone was talking about freedom, democracy, and a new start.
“I was really shocked at how difficult it is for someone like me, who grew up under Communist dictatorship for most of my life, to imagine a time so different and so full of hope. Ta.”
That hope, coupled with the example of the 2019 Hong Kong demonstrations against the proposed extradition bill, led Yang to join pro-China democracy protests in Toronto. He also founded Citizens’ Assembly, a pro-China democracy group based in Canada.
the house24:11Chinese students share stories of threats from Beijing
As the public inquiry into foreign election interference continues hearings, several Chinese dissidents in Canada tell CBC’s Craig Desson stories of intimidation and harassment allegedly at the behest of the Chinese government. spoke. Next, former Canadian Ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, will discuss steps Canada can take to protect the free speech and assembly rights of everyone on Canadian campuses.
“They call me slave.”
Yang said he initially hid his identity during demonstrations out of fear of retaliation from China.
“I was wearing wigs, masks, padding my jacket just to make myself look really different,” he said.
Eventually, he took off his disguise and began showing up at demonstrations. That’s when the death threats started.
“I’ve already received a lot of threats. [messages]”There was a lot of abuse and insults on my various social media accounts,” he said.
The persecution did not end there. He said his activities in Canada also turned against his parents, who are members of the Chinese Communist Party.
“They are [were] I’m really, really furious about my activities,” he said. “They call me a traitor. They call me a slave.”
Yang was one of the few dissidents to testify at a U.S. Congressional committee hearing this summer about China’s human rights violations, including the rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.
“Borders cannot stop the Communist Party from spreading terror abroad,” Yang told U.S. lawmakers.
Six other current and former Chinese students studying in Canada told CBC News similar stories.
“Fred” is also a member of the Citizens’ Assembly. CBC is not publishing his real name for fear of retaliation against his family in China.
“I’ve been bullied and spam bombed by people trying to blackmail my friends,” he said.
“They say I should die, that I’m a traitor to the Chinese nation, a traitor to the Han people.”
Both Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators and Chinese demonstrators calling for an end to protests are deploying advanced technological methods to spread their messages.
“Zion” (CBC News also withheld his real name), who just graduated from Concordia University, also spoke. the house He said he believed the social media chat group had been infiltrated by Chinese police.
“One time, a new member contacted me and asked me where I lived and what I thought about the independence movement in Ganzhou, my hometown,” Zion said.
He said he traced the number to a police officer in Ganzhou. After confronting the mystery user, they deleted the account, he said.
China asks international students to remain silent: Report
In May, Amnesty International published the following report: report About the experiences of Chinese dissidents abroad. The report said many Chinese students attending foreign universities are living in fear.
“They feel forced to self-censor and curtail their social and academic activities and relationships, or risk being influenced by the Chinese state,” the report said. .
“This atmosphere is the result of the Chinese government’s efforts to keep international students silent and away from political issues that the Chinese government considers sensitive.”
An organization called the China Student Scholars Association (CSSA) is active on university campuses across the country.
2019 report The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliament (NSICOP) quotes the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) as describing the CSSA as “an important support mechanism for international students studying abroad.” [that provides] Social and professional network for students. ”
However, the NSICOP report also reported that the public is increasingly wary of the relationship between CSSA and Chinese government embassies and consulates.
“CSSA’s actions may also pose a threat to freedom of speech and assembly,” the NSICOP report said, citing previous reports of individuals disrupting on-campus events.
In one incident, student government elections at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus were disrupted. In another case, a lecture by an activist criticizing the Chinese government’s treatment of Uighurs was interrupted at McMaster University.
McMaster’s student union later stripped CCSA of its official club status over its alleged ties to the Chinese consulate.
The Chinese embassy denied involvement in both incidents.
Embassy calls allegations ‘slander’
In a statement to CBC News, the Chinese embassy cited claims that CSSA organizations are being used to further the government’s political objectives and that the Chinese government is harassing families of international students in their home countries. was dismissed as “utter defamation and slander.”
According to the embassy, the CSSA was established by Chinese students studying in Canada to help each other.
“In accordance with the law, Chinese embassies and consulates-general in Canada are obliged to provide appropriate consular protection services to Chinese nationals overseas, including students and academics, and are obliged to provide the Government of Canada, universities, colleges and schools with their “We urge you to protect the safety and legitimate rights of individuals and their interests while in Canada,” an embassy spokesperson said.
“What the embassy did was beyond reproach.”
This summer, Congress quickly passed legislation aimed at combating foreign interference through criminal sanctions for deceptive or covert conduct and a new Foreign Influence Transparency Registry.
“It’s our duty.”
A former national security analyst says Canada’s current laws do little to protect Chinese students from such harassment.
Dennis Molinaro, who currently teaches intelligence history at the Ontario Institute of Technology, said, “If it’s some kind of pressure on students, Canada doesn’t have a lot of laws in place to deal with these things when it comes to foreign interference.” “No,” he says.
“How do you stop putting pressure on people’s families or blaming someone’s family because of what China is doing here? That’s clearly not something that Canada needs, at least not on its own. , with little ability to change or influence.”
Fred and other members of the Citizens’ Assembly said they are determined to continue fighting for political reform despite the threats and fears they feel for their families in China.
“It is our duty. Many people [of] “Our era in China has suffered and sacrificed,” he said.
“Even if we can’t see this and see democracy flourish on Chinese soil, I hope we can at least plant the seeds.”
