The chilling story of a Uyghur reporter exiled in the US is the sad tip of a shivering iceberg.
by Marco Respinti
That the repression exerted by the Beijing’s communist regime on Uyghurs has extended beyond the borders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), employing a strategy of transnational repression to target the diaspora communities worldwide, is today a known fact.
This involves a variety of tactics aimed at silencing, intimidating, or surveilling abroad individuals who are critical of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policies or who advocate for Uyghur rights.
Recently, Paris-based international human rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shared the testimony of a Uyghur journalist exiled in the United States whose friends who are still in the PRC were detained in retaliation for his work.
The exiled journalist’s story illustrated the transnational repression carried out by the CCP to extend censorship beyond its borders. International news reporter Kasim Abdurehim Kashgar, who left China for the US in 2017 due to the Chinese regime’s intense repression in the XUAR, said Uyghur journalists like him find no escape from the CCP, even in exile. According to the report by RSF, following Kashgar’s emigration, those in his entourage in the PRC were interrogated and, in some cases, imprisoned.
“The Chinese authorities wanted me to stop my investigations and work for the regime’s propaganda. In the months following my refusal, at least twelve people with whom I had worked in a language school were arrested and questioned about me. Some were even sentenced to up to seven years in prison,” the exiled journalist, who investigates crimes committed against Uyghurs for the American public media Voice of America (VOA), explained. The journalist said one of his friends was sentenced to nine years in prison, while four of his former colleagues were sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on obscure charges, and only one was released, while the fate of the others remains unknown.
Working under a pseudonym for many years, the journalist revealed his identity in the documentary “From Fear to Freedom: A Uyghur’s Journey” broadcast by VOA in June last year. As per the RSF report, that reporter’s mental health suffered as his close circle was targeted by the Chinese authorities. “After learning about their detention, I developed anxiety and depression,” Kashgar said. “I am asking the authorities to release them because they have nothing to do with my work,” he added.
Kashgar remains determined to continue his investigations, despite the pressure. Through extensive research, he discovered his former colleagues were being detained. “It took me three years to reveal their arrests. I only decided to go public recently, when I had gathered solid evidence from five different and unrelated sources,” Kashgar told RSF.
Commenting on the matter, RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director Cédric Alviani said the journalist’s chilling testimony “illustrates the full extent of the transnational repression carried out by the Chinese regime to prevent exiled journalists from revealing the atrocities it is committing in Xinjiang.” He added: “The international community must mobilise to protect journalists making the difficult decision to go into exile, as well as their families who remain in China.”
Also, in 2024 the police of the PRC arrested two journalists from the Kazakh minority working for the local public channel Xinjiang Television, as well as several other journalists whose identities have not yet been confirmed, reports RSF. The organization counts at least 79 detained individuals among journalists and press freedom activists, including renown Sakharov prize winner Ilham Tohti.
In fact, the PRC is ranked 172nd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index. And according to a report by the Washington-based human rights group Freedom House, the parts of the Chinese communist party-state apparatus involved in transnational repression are as diverse as the targets and tactics of the campaign.
The importance of extending the party’s grip on overseas Chinese and ethnic minority exiles originates with the highest echelons of the CCP, Freedom House said. “Besides CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping’s own advancement of sweeping anti-corruption campaigns, leaked speeches from other members of the Politburo high up in the security apparatus are explicit about the priority that should be given to the ‘overseas struggle’ against perceived party enemies,” the report added.
VOA recently reported that many exiled Uyghurs in the United States claimed the Chinese regime has ramped up transnational repression against them, using their relatives who still live in China to threaten them into silence abroad. VOA reported that the United States’ domestic intelligence and security service Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is aware of such activity targeting Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups in the US.
“Tactics and patterns morph with advancements in technology,” the FBI said in a statement to VOA. These acts, “often identified as transnational repression,” represent “severe violations of international norms, US law, and individual rights and freedoms. TNR conducted by any government, against any person including Uyghur Americans, is unacceptable,” the federal police agency was quoted as saying by VOA.
Earlier in May this year, UK-based human rights group Amnesty International reported some Chinese and Hong Kong students studying in Europe and North America claimed they were being photographed and followed at protests in their host cities, while many said their families in China had been targeted and threatened by police in connection with the students’ activism overseas.
But this transnational repression, a grave violation of human rights, extending the reach of its authoritarian control beyond its borders, not only affects Uyghurs but also poses broader challenges to global human rights and international diplomacy.
Addressing these issues requires coordinated international action, robust support for Uyghur advocacy, and continued scrutiny of Beijing practices, as all experts on the PRC say. As the situation evolves, the global community’s response will play a critical role in shaping the future of Uyghur rights and freedoms.
