Chinese students have told the Guardian they are scared to return home and worry for their families after being followed and harassed. Here’s an extract:
The first time Liying [names have been changed throughout the article] 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 an hour. When they came out, he was gone.
“Often at protests, there are middle-aged Chinese men standing a bit further apart, looking at us. They’re not joining, just examining,” says Liying, who has been followed a second time and received anonymous calls from China to her British number.
Liying is one of several students and recent graduates from China that the Guardian has spoken to who say they have been subjected to surveillance, harassment and other forms of intimidation by Chinese authorities for criticising the Chinese Communist party while on British soil.
China is increasingly targeting people outside its borders in a tactic known as transnational repression, which aims to stifle debate or criticism.
Steve Tsang, the director of the Soas China Institute, says Chinese student protesters in the UK have long been photographed and monitored, but the practice “may well” have increased with newer surveillance technology.
Students say their families in China have also been threatened by local authorities, warning them to stop engaging in political activities overseas.
In recent years, there have also been concerns about the impact of Chinese surveillance and influence on UK universities. Between 2021 and 2022, there were 151,690 students from China in the UK, making them the largest cohort of non-UK students.
In March, Michelle Shipworth, an associate professor at University College London, told the Telegraph newspaper she had been banned from teaching a “provocative” China-related course to protect the university’s commercial interests. UCL said it was committed to safeguarding academic freedom of inquiry.
Students say the fear of being surveilled by Chinese agents keeps many from engaging in politically sensitive discussions or activities and sows distrust within the community.
One undergraduate student, Sun [names have been changed], says he knows of peers who have been questioned by other Chinese students about whether they have attended anti-Beijing protests. He also showed the Guardian messages from a WeChat group consisting of Chinese students from his university reminding others to “express pro-China and pro-party views”.
The president of City, University of London, Anthony Finkelstein, issued a statement last May acknowledging incidents of political pressure “from across the higher education sector”, including “actions undertaken by the governments of China, Russia, Iran and others”.
Those who plan to keep speaking out, such as Fan are undaunted. He says the opportunity for protest and dissent in the UK has given him a political awakening.
“I feel like I’ve entered a new world,” he says. “Before, I didn’t realise there were so many amazing people who have the same political opinions as me, who are willing to do something for our country.”
Worth reading in full.
