Forced Repatriation of Overseas Chinese Focus of New Report

The European human rights organization Safeguard Defenders has released a report documenting the forced repatriation over the past decade of around 12,000 Chinese citizens living abroad. It tells how Chinese authorities forced their return, including three who resided in Japan. 

Chasing Fox Hunt, subtitled "Tracing the PRC's Forced Return Operations around the Globe," was released on May 14. In the report, authors Laura Harth and Yenting Chen warn that the Chinese government often employs extrajudicial mechanisms to coerce targets into returning to China. Those include kidnapping, which violates the sovereignty of other nations.

Authorities Seek to Intimidate Family Members

China's Ministry of Public Security launched Operation Fox Hunt in 2014. Ostensibly it was to arrest individuals accused of crimes related to corruption who had fled abroad. But since then it also seems to have widened the scope of its targets. Its forced repatriations now include Uyghurs, Tibetans, and political dissidents who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

Based on official announcements and media reports within China, the Safeguard Defenders report estimates that around 12,000 individuals residing in 120 countries and regions have been forced to return to China. It includes the names of 383 people confirmed as having been forced to return home. 

Among them are two individuals who had fled to Japan. One, born in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, came to Japan in 2015 but was returned to China in 2017. The other hid in Japan for nine years before being repatriated to China. According to reports in the Chinese media, the two were suspected of corruption and smuggling. They both "returned home after being persuaded." Both were arrested when they arrived back in China. It appears that the Chinese authorities had pressured them with phone calls and messages funneled through their family members. 

The report also describes a case not made public by China concerning a Uyghur female agricultural scientist named Mihriay Erkin. She had been studying in Japan when she was returned to China in 2019. Her situation came to light through testimony from her uncle, a human rights activist living in Europe, and from media reports outside China. 

Dead on Arrival

Erkin's father is also currently imprisoned in a concentration camp in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Furthermore, It appears that the authorities used her mother to pressure her to return to China. It has also been determined that after she got back to her hometown, Erkin was imprisoned in a detention center where she was found dead in November 2020.

The day after the funeral the Chinese authorities reportedly threatened Erkin's family with imprisonment for "leaking state secrets" and "insulting the police" if they dared reveal her death.

The report also credits articles in the foreign media and investigations by human rights groups for the information it used. Consequently, with that information, it was able to confirm that 62 individuals, including Erkin, had been forced to return to China. 

Laura Harth, coauthor of the report and campaign director at Safeguard Defenders, says: "Ms. Erkin's case represents an attempt to silence her uncle, who continues to criticize the regime while abroad. They want to punish him by hurting his family members and causing mental anguish."

She further adds that the CCP authorities are regularly inciting anxiety among Chinese living abroad. CCP authorities pressure them to secretly share information about their colleagues or intimidate them by warning them to "think about your family." 

Find access to the full report by Safeguard Defenders on their website.

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(Read the report in Japanese.)

Author: Mina Mitsui, The Sankei Shimbun