Chinese students threatened by Chinese government: “They regularly ring my doorbell”
Chinese students at the UvA see their work threatened by China’s long arm. They fear that fellow students will report them to the Chinese authorities. “There is already a charge in China that I am a spy.”
Emma* (23)
“It started when I left for the Netherlands in 2021. I was a gender activist in China, work that I also started doing here, and the authorities wanted to be able to keep an eye on me. The Chinese government prefers to severely restrict gender rights, and even in China, I was already at risk as an activist. At the airport, customs stopped me before I left and kept asking me why I had to go to the Netherlands to do a bachelor’s degree so badly.”
“When I was finally allowed to go, I started helping Chinese, among others, to apply for political asylum in Europe in the Netherlands. Soon after that, I got one phone call after another from Chinese spam numbers. But I don’t answer them.”
“My parents are also harassed because of what I write here. My father can hardly visit me or leave the country for work because his travel visas are constantly blocked since I am studying in the Netherlands. On the other hand, my parents are not afraid, mind you. After all, they have been living under this kind of repression all their lives and have become hardened by it.”
Reporting “anti-Chinese” behavior
“A Chinese person can also report ‘anti-Chinese’ behavior to the Chinese government via WeChat, a Chinese chat app. People who speak out against the treatment of Uighurs in camps in China, against the oppression of certain genders in China, or other forms of protest against the Chinese government are deemed ‘anti-Chinese’ agents.”
“Also, Chinese people in the Netherlands can report someone to the Chinese embassy in the Netherlands for a possible reward. So I often reach an agreement with my professors and fellow students not to publicize the opinions I express in lectures because then pro-Chinese UvA students can pass this on to the authorities, for example. I also always determine the political position of Chinese fellow students first.”
“I never submit anything politically sensitive online on Canvas, for example. As an exception, my professors allow me to submit everything as a printed version. We just don’t know where Chinese technology is or where China can break through firewalls. So I find research collaboration like that between the UvA and the Chinese tech company Huawei to be worrying.”
“The interviewees' stories sadden me but do not surprise me. Research by China expert Frank Pieke of Leiden University indicates that many Chinese individuals, and therefore students, in the Netherlands are called, messaged, or approached in other ways by the Chinese government because of their so-called ‘anti-Chinese’ behavior.”
“Leaked government information (the so-called ‘China Cables’) also reveals that a manual has been prepared for Chinese police officers to interrogate all returning students. This includes the threat that their parents’ jobs are being jeopardized by the behavior of the student in question.”
“In recent years, the Chinese policy of spreading positive propaganda of China's image has turned into repression of Chinese students abroad. Students are expected to act outwardly in line with Chinese policy. In the process, the government is becoming an expert in technological espionage and social media.
“In my lectures with several Chinese students, they often pay attention to each other’s views to ensure that any possible ‘anti-Chinese’ views they may have are not passed on by their fellow students. In lectures with students who support the Chinese government, not everything can be said.”
Anonymous threats
“Through social media, I receive many threats from anonymous Chinese accounts. Via WeChat, I receive messages such as: ‘You are disloyal to your leader,’ ‘Your studies in the Netherlands don't amount to anything,’ ‘I’m going to pay your family a visit,’ and ‘I will report your activities.’ And someone even sent me the other day: ‘I can reach you in Amsterdam within four hours.’
“I used to be scared. In China, I was physically threatened and friends of mine were even killed. So compared to China, I don't find anything scary here anymore. I did recently receive information that there is now an official complaint against me with the Chinese government that I am ‘suspected of having organizational ties with the Netherlands’ and have thus been reported as a spy. Therefore, unfortunately, I cannot return.”
Changed articles
“Some Chinese students are therefore forced to curtail their academic work. I was once interviewed for a UvA essay by a fellow Chinese student at the UvA. However, his academic article ended up online and was seen by the Chinese authorities. He knew, unlike people like me who are likely to be granted political asylum, that he would still have to return to China. So under pressure from the authorities, he unfortunately redacted the paragraphs that China ‘didn’t like.’”
“With me, it even goes so far that someone rings my doorbell regularly. I have my partner open it because I have become very alert after all this time. Then suddenly there is no one at the door. So I now carry self-defense devices with me all the time. But I continue with both activism and studying. They can’t scare me anymore. But if one day I commit ‘suicide,’ which has happened to previous activists abroad, then everyone will know that I didn’t kill myself.”
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Christine* (25)
“Look, here I have hundreds of missed calls from random numbers from Pakistan, India, and some African countries. I’m pretty sure the Chinese government is using these as spam numbers. After all, this was a day after I had protested for trans rights in China at Dam Square. All the people were taking pictures of us and that already felt very frightening.”
As someone from Hong Kong, I demonstrated during major protests as recently as 2019 against China's growing interference in the region’s once-promised semi-autonomy. Because clearly the Chinese government now controls us everywhere.”
“I have already modified the statement of my thesis on trans rights. A student from Hong Kong who had written a critical thesis in Japan for International Criminal Law - which I am also studying - was arrested by the Chinese government during a family visit to Hong Kong. I don’t want to be arrested if I have to go back again, so I chose less far-reaching wording.”
Fear for family
“After all, my family may also be threatened, and I do fear that. My father has a factory in mainland China, and the government has been known to freeze the bank accounts of Chinese whose children are critical of the country. The state also prevents parents from sending money to their children studying in European countries, for example. Or the government blocks Chinese students’ bank accounts.”
“I always watch what I say when I sit next to Asian people eating in the cafeteria. And I never submit a critical essay digitally. You can be reported by a fellow student to the Chinese government through WeChat just like that. They then send screenshots that they have reported you to the Chinese police. Or I receive anonymous threats like ‘Watch out when you leave home.’”
Help from the government
“Sure, I am wary of such pro-Chinese students, but mostly I just watch out as a precaution. I have never been betrayed by another student to the Chinese government. But I hope that the Dutch government can protect me from physical threats from China, as some friends are experiencing. I really fear that something might happen to one of us one day. And like everyone from Hong Kong, I fear being arrested by the Chinese police one day on my return there because of my writing.”
“I don’t think the university can help us very much beyond that. They provide a safe environment as much as they can, but the help has to come from higher up. The Dutch government needs to take a clear stand against China’s meddling. We would like to be able to report as much as possible to local police that we are being threatened and receive protection from the authorities. And just like for certain students from conflict areas like Gaza, simply an expression of support from official agencies would be nice.”
The Chinese embassy could not be reached for any comments.
*The full names of Emma and Christine are known to the editorial board. The editors are also in possession of screenshots of the missed calls, messages and online threats.
