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Chinese Cops Now Spying on American Soil
- eivarv 8y ago"Now..." This has been going on (at least elsewhere) for a while [0] now. [0]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8556736.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8556736.stm
- chopin 8y agoServes as a sobering reminder why ubiquitous surveillance is bad.
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoIf these people are so terrible then why are they going out of their way to annoy the ones who have left the country and may possible help their relatives leave the country? Do they think that if they prosecute them enough the West will accept them as refugees? (I don't see that happening post-Syria or being good for China if it did.)
- emodendroket 8y agoProbably to prevent them from getting involved in activism.
- macintux 8y agoIf I understand your question, I would think that China would welcome a total diaspora of the Uighur if they would leave China alone once abroad. Both seem unlikely (especially the odds of getting everyone to leave) so they operate on the assumption that all Uighur are threats.
- exelius 8y agoIn Machiavellian power politics (which is how the Communist party operates), you want to keep all potential usurpers under your control. If any can escape, they will, and they will come after you. This is China reminding them that even though they are not in China, they are not free from China’s influence. And make no mistake, the folks they’re doing this to are essentially the “nobility” or “landed gentry” of Chinese society. These people have connections and skills such that they will be fine if China does not want them, and they would likely be among the political leaders / influencers in the event of a collapse of single-party rule.
- volkisch 8y agoI wonder how many of these people are somehow related to ROC, that would be a powerful fuel to fire the CPC paranoia. Even so, I guess that most chinese in exclaves like Vancouver, Montreal, Eastern Australia, and NZ don't suffer this harassment.
- macintux 8y agoThe term Orwellian almost seems an understatement for what China is doing. Astonishing.
- emodendroket 8y agoWhile this is alarming in the context of ethnic cleansing in Western China, it's not really remarkable that foreign intelligence is operating in the US; what country on Earth does not have foreign intelligence agents operating in it?
- eivarv 8y agoIt's not about foreign intelligence, but rather the systematic surveillance and persecution of politically troublesome ethnic minorities – even abroad.
- macintux 8y agoI don't imagine many foreign regimes have an intelligence operation in the U.S. dedicated to monitoring their own citizens.
- emodendroket 8y agoI think you might be surprised.
- macintux 8y agoRussia, I would expect. Cuba, maybe, although that'd be incredibly expensive given the number of ex-pats here relative to the government's budget. Iran conceivably. Mayyyybe North Korea, although are there enough to matter? Who else would bother?
- macintux 8y ago(Sure would have been nice were Saudi Arabia keeping track of their subjects while on American soil prior to 9/11.)
- emodendroket 8y agoElements of the Saudi government likely assisted the effort, hence the ongoing lawsuits
- donald123 8y agoDoes CIA only spy within United States?
- paradite 8y agoFor those who just read the headline and are thinking about (or even commenting on) cops being "physically" in the U.S. to spy on people, no, it is not what's happening. The headline is grossly misleading. The only news here is relatives calling overseas Chinese (who are Uighurs) to collect information on their overseas employment, ID and financial information (presumably instructed by the police). It is invasion of privacy, of course. But I don't think it is that bad of a measure to counter religious extremism and radicalism. Similar measures are in place or planned in U.S. (Muslim registry, surrendering your social media accounts upon immigration check-in). The bulk of the article then goes on and on talking about China's influence and old news about reports within China on human rights and surveillance (which you have seen a millions times in every news about China). Honestly I am amused by the fact that Western media need to recount back all the past events whenever some new information about China emerges. I don't know, it feels like they are just doing this to please their readers by reinforcing the negative image of China. Full disclosure: I am an overseas Chinese who hasn't been contacted by the police, but then again I am not a Uighur.
- volkisch 8y ago> it feels like they are just doing this to please their readers by reinforcing the negative image of China. It's not like China has been doing a good job on removing this negative image of themselves, aren't they? Granted, not that they should care, they just pay attention at their own game. Either yanks or russians pulling strings in MENA to satisfy their geopolitical ambitions, or the CPC doing the same in Subsaharan Africa, or major cities of the western world. It shouldn't really surprise you to see headlines like this.
- paradite 8y agoWhat I mean is double standard in reporting: Does every negative article about UK talk about brexit? Does every negative article about Trump talk about his sexist remark? (Granted, Trump might be in similar situation as China) Does every negative article about Russia talk about annexation of Crimea? Not that I've seen. Edit: confusing wording.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoSpying is always bad, when its the other guy doing it. Isn't the rule pretty much, its ok as long as you don't get caught?
- seanmcdirmid 8y agoThese aren’t really spies though, just some police offers trying to track down and apprehend people wanted in the PRC, like what happened with the booksellers in HK and Thailand. It would be like US cops or FBI going to Beijing to try and abduct someone.
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoHey that's every other Jackie Chan movie!
- seanmcdirmid 8y agoWhich way? I think the first US one with chris rock was Chinese police coming to the USA, and the second one was USA police going to China. Unless you mean super cop, which was...mainland police in HK?
- stunt 8y agoWho is not spying?