July 10, 2007: China is becoming increasingly
aggressive in trying to shut down anti-government activities overseas. Nothing
official, of course, but the evidence is piling up. Some of the operations are
violent, like attacks on Falungong information activities. The Falungong is a
religious movement that has become the target of Chinese anger. The Falungong
made the mistake of demonstrating against government attempts to control it.
You can only practice religion in China if you accept some government control
(to make sure no believers or clergy do or say anything that can be interpreted
as anti-government). The Falungong has made the Chinese leadership furious via
overseas demonstrations and information operations. For example, Falungong
publishes, in the U.S., a free newspaper, the Epoch Times, which is full of
news on the world, China, and the struggle between the Chinese government and
the Falungong. In the past year, many copies of the Epoch Times have been
stolen and destroyed, and editorial staff have been physically attacked by men
who appear to be Chinese. Editorial offices have also been attacked, often at
night, to make it look like a burglary.
China has also been putting pressure on Chinese
language newspapers in the U.S. to publish more pro Chinese government
material. This often involves threats by people, it turns out, who are working
for, or sponsored by, Chinese embassy staff. The same routine has been applied
to Chinese student associations at American universities. Most of the ethnic
Chinese students in American universities are from mainland China, and it's not
difficult for the government to pressure these students to become active in
making sure the anti-Chinese government activities or opinions on campus are
opposed.
In a manner similar to Chinese espionage efforts,
Chinese students are encouraged to gather seemingly innocuous data for the
Chinese government. For example, who has been saying anti-Chinese government
things on campus? Which Americans, especially Chinese-Americans appear most
likely to support the Chinese government?
While China has been doing a lot of this
information gathering for decades, the widespread use of force is something
new. In the United States, the FBI is investigating the pattern of harassment
and violence. The FBI is also heavily into trying to control Chinese espionage
efforts, and apparently believes the Chinese activities against some media and
campus organizations, is all being run by the same people in Chinese
intelligence. But at the moment, FBI resources are limited because of the
higher priority demands of the war against Islamic terrorism.
