Overseas Black Hands: Documenting the CCP's Transnational Repression, Breaking the Silence of Overseas Chinese

Overseas Black Hand Archive.com For a long time, the CCP authorities have extended their rule of fear from within China to overseas through transnational repression. In March of this year, Italy expelled 8 Chinese citizens suspected of participating in the transnational repression of Teacher Li, citing national security reasons. This was a significant action by a European country in addressing the CCP's transnational repression. It also shows that democratic societies have begun to realize that the CCP's transnational repression is not just a private predicament for overseas Chinese, but a direct challenge to the sovereignty, rule of law, and public safety of democratic countries.

In the United States, the Department of Justice and the FBI have also taken action. The U.S. has prosecuted individuals suspected of operating secret overseas CCP police stations in Manhattan, New York, and accused multiple personnel from China's Ministry of Public Security of suppressing Chinese individuals and democracy activists in the U.S. through fake accounts, online harassment, and threats. The U.S. government has regarded the CCP's transnational repression as a threat to American sovereignty and the safety of its residents.

Similarly, countries such as Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have also begun to actively investigate and prosecute individuals involved in such activities against overseas emigrants.

These actions prove one thing: as long as we preserve the evidence, tell the stories, and transform scattered fear into systematic records, transnational repression will no longer be an unaccountable black box.

This is not just an isolated case targeting a few dissidents. Nowadays, more and more ordinary overseas Chinese are beginning to experience surveillance, threats, harassment, targeted reporting, social media account bans, frozen bank accounts, their families being summoned by police stations, being asked to "return to China to cooperate with the investigation," being photographed and followed when attending rallies, and even being forced into self-censorship within democratic countries.

Based on our own long-term experience of suffering from transnational repression, and based on the fear that many overseas Chinese are enduring but find difficult to articulate, we have decided not to remain silent.

Today, in collaboration with Safeguard Defenders (@SafeguardDefend), we are officially launching a special project on transnational repression:

Overseas Black Hand Archive.com

This is an anonymous case collection project for overseas Chinese, students, immigrants, dissidents, activists, journalists, and their families. We aim to systematically document the methods used by the CCP to carry out transnational repression overseas, including but not limited to:

Police stations, National Security, or sub-district offices contacting family members in China to persuade overseas relatives to stop speaking out;

Overseas individuals being photographed, tracked, threatened, or asked to participate in "talks";

Accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc., being targeted for reporting, bans, or doxxing attacks;

Threats to bank accounts, payment accounts, domestic assets, or the livelihoods of relatives;

CSSA, overseas Chinese associations, hometown associations, or other organizations participating in anti-protests, surveillance, photography, and pressure tactics;

Being asked or coerced to cooperate with pro-CCP activities, provide information about overseas classmates, friends, or community members to domestic Chinese departments, or assist in monitoring, reporting, or obstructing others from speaking out;

Intervention in harassment, intimidation, and information gathering by Chinese embassies and consulates, overseas police stations, or related personnel;

Retaliation against oneself or family members within China for participating in protests, forwarding information, accepting interviews, or publishing comments;

Being asked to delete content, stop speaking out, return to China to "explain the situation," or being implied that "there will be consequences if you don't comply."

We collect these cases not to create fear, but to end fear.

All submitted content can be anonymous. We will do our utmost to protect the safety of submitters and, on the premise of de-identification and privacy protection, organize, research, and advocate internationally on these cases. The relevant materials will be used to expose the true scale and specific methods of the CCP's transnational repression to the media, human rights organizations, parliaments, government agencies, and the international community.

Every record is evidence.

Every narration is a breakthrough of silence.

Every case can become the foundation for protecting others.

The CCP wants overseas Chinese to continue to be afraid, to remain silent, and to continue to feel that "speaking out is useless" in democratic countries.

But we want to say: Starting today, we will no longer keep the fear to ourselves.

If you or someone you know has experienced similar situations, please fill out the anonymous questionnaire.

Let us together document the black hands the CCP extends overseas, expose transnational repression, and defend the freedom, security, and dignity of democratic societies.

Overseas Black Hand Archive.com