China’s Transnational Repression Has ‘Chilling Effect’ on Chinese Students Studying Abroad: Report

The Chinese Communist Party has created a “climate of fear” around Chinese international students in an attempt to keep them from engaging in topics considered taboo by Beijing, according to a new report from rights group Amnesty International. Amnesty researchers spoke to 32 Chinese international students studying in eight countries in Europe and North America between October and December 2023, including the United States, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. They found that the students were compelled to self-sensor and held back on political activism out of fear of drawing repercussions from the Chinese regime. “As we met with more students, we saw that—no matter where they studied—there were shared experiences of specific acts targeting them in retaliation for exercising their freedom of expression; shared fears about how their engagement on rights issues might affect their families, their safety, and their careers; and shared stresses and frustrations with how to seek support within their university communities,” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, told The Epoch Times via email on May 9, ahead of the publication of the report....