Safeguard Defenders · Full chronicle and history

At the IPAC Hague Summit, 54 legislators from 26 countries responded to the latest report released by Safeguard Defenders, jointly calling for six emergency measures to combat the CCP's foreign interference and transnational repression, demanding that countries stop appeasement.

On November 6, the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders released a report stating that China has established 1,247 overseas liaison points across at least 91 countries and regions, involving 74 domestic agencies. These points use the police, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and the United Front system to collect information on overseas Chinese and monitor dissidents. The report also cites a paper by the Qingtian Public Security Bureau chief, which claims that 15 protests by overseas Chinese during visits by Chinese leaders were handled.

Human rights organization Safeguard Defenders has released a new report, 'Transnational Repression,' pointing out that four years after exposing overseas police stations, Chinese public security, courts, procuratorates, and other agencies are more wantonly extending their control tentacles worldwide than ever before, monitoring the thoughts, speech, and actions of people overseas.

A report by Safeguard Defenders mentions that Italian police are investigating individuals suspected of long-term stalking, surveillance, and threats against Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher.

The human rights organization Safeguard Defenders has released a new edition of the book 'The People's Republic of the Disappeared.' It includes first-hand accounts of secret detention under the 'Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location' (RSDL) system from Chinese rights lawyers, journalists, NGO workers, as well as Michael Kovrig, Cheng Lei, and Lee Ming-che, and offers a free PDF download.

On October 23, Milan prosecutors concluded their investigation into 10 individuals suspected of stalking the operator of the Teacher Li account. Among them, 8 are Chinese citizens and 2 are Italian citizens. There are currently no convictions.

China began enforcing the 19-article Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration promulgated on July 31 starting September 15, expanding the scope of those barred from leaving the country from specific groups to all departing passengers at every port of exit, particularly affecting AI researchers and entrepreneurs, drawing widespread attention and concern at home and abroad. On September 10, officials issued a clarification saying the new rules mainly target cross-border gambling, telecom fraud, and the illicit transfer of technology. On the same day, the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders released a report noting an explosive growth in China's exit bans, with nearly 200,000 mentions of exit restrictions in Supreme People's Court rulings in 2025.

A Chinese national who has lived abroad for a long time said that police, on the pretext of a verification check, demanded their passport, visa, living and work details, WeChat records, as well as a video call and real-time location sharing.

According to a report by the Italian media "Il Foglio" on August 26, a woman from Zhejiang in her forties, who was suspected of harassing and stalking Teacher Li, was deported by Italy last Saturday upon arriving at Milan Malpensa Airport with her 8-year-old daughter.

On August 24, 2026, Chinese citizens living in Singapore and elsewhere reported that police in their domestic household registration jurisdiction had demanded via WeChat that they submit personal photos and proof of overseas employment, warning that they would bear the consequences themselves; others who had returned to China said they were summoned by police and had their phones checked for entry and exit records.

On July 17, 2026, more than 50 international human rights and press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, Safeguard Defenders, and Chinese Human Rights Defenders, issued a joint statement calling on the Thai government to urgently halt the deportation of Chinese exiled investigative journalist Bai Zhaodong.

On July 16, 2026, the human rights organization "Safeguard Defenders" released the investigative report "Behind Iron Bars," which, based on a survey of 59 former detainees, accuses China's prison system of routinely carrying out severe torture and abuse against both Chinese and foreign prisoners.

On July 1, 2026, online blogger Teacher Li and the international human rights organization Safeguard Defenders jointly launched the "Overseas Black Hand Files" project, aiming to systematically collect cases of overseas Chinese communities suffering transnational repression and threats by the CCP, and to push Western governments to take action.

In July 2026, Tencent QQ Browser added the "Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher" social accounts, Telegram bots, and the rights-defense project website exposing cross-border repression and excessive working hours to its blocklist, prohibiting access.

On June 16, 2026, the international human rights organization Safeguard Defenders released a report based on a survey of 84 former detainees, disclosing that China's detention centers are routinely plagued by obstruction of meetings with lawyers, bullying by inmate bosses, and violent abuse.

In April 2026, the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders released the research report "Behind Iron Bars," based on interview records of nearly 100 detainees, systematically exposing human rights violations commonly found in Chinese detention centers, including the merging of investigation and detention, extraction of confessions through torture, extreme overcrowding, and a severe lack of medical care.

The international human rights organization "Safeguard Defenders" has released its latest investigation report, revealing that multiple Chinese companies are openly posting commercial advertisements on the short-video platform Douyin, promoting anti-suicide soft-padded living and interrogation facilities custom-built for "retention" facilities under the state supervision system.

In May 2026, the civil human rights initiative the Overseas Black Hand Files project officially launched in response to the Chinese authorities' long-arm jurisdiction over overseas dissidents, publicly soliciting and documenting cases of transnational repression carried out by China around the world.

On May 12, 2026, the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders, working together with overseas Chinese activists, established the "Overseas Black Hand Files" platform to collect and document cases of the Chinese Communist Party's transnational repression worldwide.

On March 12, 2026, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress passed the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. Article 63 stipulates that overseas organizations and individuals who undermine ethnic unity and progress and incite ethnic division shall be held legally liable in accordance with the law, effective July 1.

In early March 2026, the Italian government, on national security grounds, ordered the deportation of 8 Chinese citizens suspected of surveilling and intimidating dissident Teacher Li (Li Ying).

On February 27, according to ABC News, HungryPanda in Australia experienced another dispute during the Spring Festival, and the company admitted to being in contact with Chinese police.

On August 5, 2026, the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch released a human rights report, pointing out that Chinese authorities continue to intensify strict crackdowns on domestic dissident groups and have extended long-arm jurisdiction and transnational repression tactics overseas.

Qiao Xinxin, the initiator of the Demolish the Wall Movement, was cross-border arrested in Laos by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police and brought back to China. He was later secretly sentenced to 5 years in prison and subjected to torture in prison.

The European organization Safeguard Defenders has released a report revealing that the Chinese Communist Party has set up 102 police stations overseas, spread across 53 countries.

The Jamestown Foundation released a report on the CCP's global expansion, pointing out that Chinese government agencies recruit influence agents within overseas Chinese communities and attempt to control discourse within those communities.

Since 2018, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used Tang Yuanjing's longing for home as a lure of returning to China and successfully turned him.

Data from Freedom House's database shows that between 2014 and 2024, a total of 1,219 incidents of physical transnational repression occurred worldwide, of which the Chinese Communist Party was responsible for 272, accounting for 22%.