cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/61679599

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Here is a brief article by the study authors: How China’s Transnational Repression has Silently Taken Root in Japan’s Society

China’s transnational repression (often referred to as TNR) has attracted increasing international attention in recent years, particularly following revelations about Chinese overseas police stations operating all the way from Viña del Mar, Chile, to Rome, Italy.

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However, while direct intimidation and surveillance have received considerable attention, subtler forms of repression remain largely overlooked.

Japan presents a particularly interesting case. Despite its geographical proximity to China, extensive economic relations, and large Chinese diaspora, the country has received comparatively little attention regarding the less visible forms of transnational repression. Japan’s democratic institutions and society reinforce the public assumption that individuals can safely express their political views, protected by academic freedom, the constitution, strong freedom of speech, and formal protection mechanisms. Only a few institutions, such as Human Rights Watch, have raised concerns over the issue.

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A new report, “Mapping CCP Transnational Repression in Japan: From Self-Censorship to Institutional Pressure” (pdf), published by Sinopsis, a non-profit association in scholarly collaboration with the Department of Sinology at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, goes further in challenging these assumptions about the absence of TNR in Japan.

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[Based on interviews with academics, journalists, students], the study identified three main mechanisms through which repression from Chinese individuals and institutions is experienced by critics in Japan:

• direct intimidation,
• institutional pressure, and
• self-censorship.

The findings suggest that TNR does not require direct intervention. It can operate through existing social relationships, institutional incentives, and the fear of possible consequences.

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Direct harassment and spam calll

Reports of harassment frequently involve phone calls that interviewees suspected were linked to the Chinese embassy, an experience described by several participants [such as university professors and journalists [...] Such calls are not confined to Chinese nationals living in Japan, but also reach non-Chinese journalists reporting on sensitive issues and academics.

For Chinese nationals, the harassment often extends to family members remaining in China, creating additional pressure through familial connections. A particularly illustrative account comes from a Professor who reported that a student of hers from Inner Mongolia had been told that police officers contacted the student’s parents in China, pressuring the student to discontinue their research.

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Surveillance and monitoring

Accounts of in-person surveillance describe a form of coercive pressure that leaves activists and members of ethnic minorities in Japan with the sense that they are being watched even outside China [...] Chinese man in Japan approached the man’s daughter at her school and asked her to telephone her father, then used the call to press the community member to work as an informant for the Chinese government.

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Academic institutions

Academics of Chinese, Japanese, and other nationalities [...] attributed setbacks in career advancement to networks of influence they associated with the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] ... [A] Professor at a national university, reported that her pre-nomination to a senior post within the institution was withdrawn; while she cannot establish causation, she attributes this primarily to her research on Chinese affairs. Another Professor similarly described being professionally marginalised when her profile was removed from the university’s Chinese studies website. Neither account can be independently corroborated, but both are consistent with a dynamic in which institutions distance themselves pre-emptively from politically sensitive scholarship.

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[There are also] pressures on students in the classroom, which they observed to vary with the surrounding community. One Professor [said that] mainland Chinese students in the social sciences tend to be more critical of the CCP than those in STEM fields, while short-term exchange students are typically more vocal in supporting official Chinese positions than full-time international students.

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Organising academic events emerged as a further site of difficulty. One Professor reported obstacles in inviting activists and researchers, while another Professor described professional isolation after organising Hong Kong–related events.

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Chinese student associations

Chinese Student Associations (CSAs) occupy a central place in participants’ accounts of what we characterise as institutional complicity. Interviewees repeatedly described these associations as intermediaries between students and actors they understood to be linked to the Chinese state,

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As one Chinese student said,

"the spy web of Chinese students in other Japanese Universities is deeply rooted and has strong influences. The Chinese embassy has connections with some of the students’ associations.”

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[The report suggests that CSAs are experienced as part of a layered oversight structure resembling what is known as “long-distance authoritarian governance.”

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Self-censorship

Self-censorship recurs across the interviews with Chinese dissidents, academics, and students in Japan, including among students with no connection to political activity. These accounts illustrate how repression may operate indirectly, shaping behaviour through anticipated consequences rather than direct threats. [...]

The perceived presence of CCP-linked entities and individuals affects how Chinese students relate to fellow nationals and how they express themselves inside and outside the classroom.

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[A Chinese student who] lived in Japan for five years [said that] he remains careful about whom he speaks to and avoids political discussion, preferring economic subjects. He acknowledged not feeling entirely safe in conversation, at times even with close friends, and said he refrains from voicing criticism even when he holds strong views.

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[Several other Chinese students living in Japan say that they] avoid specific topics and limits her contact with other Chinese students [and they are] holding back their thoughts when conversing with Chinese citizens and even with “buddies,” avoiding revealing personal opinions.

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Information gathering, mistrust, and the anticipation of surveillance

[There are] recurring patterns of information gathering directed at activists, academics, and diaspora communities in Japan [resembling] what scholars’ term “soft surveillance,” in which the collection of information operates less through overt coercion than through the uncertainty and psychological pressure it generates.

One Japanese professor described encounters with ”Chinese nationals asking her about her connection with Chinese research and activists,” including an occasion on which someone sought background information about a German journalist. She interpreted these approaches as purposeful and coordinated.

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One [Hong Kong] activist recalled that acquaintances - former colleagues and friends from Hong Kong—travelled to Japan specifically to meet her every four to five months from 2023 onwards.

She did not regard these as isolated visits but as part of a pattern in which people from varied backgrounds approached her seeking similar information.

[Study participants] reported hearing of comparable cases among Taiwanese and Tibetan communities in Japan and among Hong Kong contacts in the United Kingdom and the United States.

[The Chinese student] believes some former members to be compromised, citing their appearances in pro-CCP media at the same time as they sought contact with the Hong Kong community in Japan.

She further noted that, while other activists’ families were subject to interrogation, the families of these individuals were not, which she read as evidence of coordination with the authorities.

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[Chinese students in Japan] also raised concerns about digital infiltration. Alongside the WeChat monitoring described [in the study], several reported threatening online behaviour. One Hong Kong activist reported receiving messages from numerous accounts that he judged to be inauthentic. He described Hong Kong activist communities in Japan as living with a persistent fear of infiltration, which in his account generates internal disputes, exclusions, and in some cases the collapse of democratic initiatives.

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