China

7 - China

The Most Prolific User of Transnational Repression

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Edward Lemon

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Klaus Brummer and

Šumit Ganguly

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Klaus Brummer: Affiliation:
Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt
Šumit Ganguly: Affiliation:
Stanford University, California

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Summary

China is the most prolific user of transnational repression in the world. Its use of transnational repression has increased under Xi Jinping in lockstep with the Chinese Communist Party’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign and crackdown on minority groups, particularly Hong Kongers and Uyghurs. This chapter unpacks the motives for transnational repression, as well as the instruments and tactics, drawing particular attention to digital tools, coercion by proxy of family members, use of Interpol and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as the role of the United Front Work Department. The chapter concludes that China is set to continue to be the most prolific user of transnational repression, emboldened by the Trump administration’s retreat from global institutions and undermining of human rights and international law. China will continue to support institutions and norms that normalize transnational repression.

Keywords

China transnational repression authoritarianism Interpol United Front Work Department Shanghai Cooperation Organization diaspora overseas Chinese

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Type: Chapter
Information: Transnational Repression
A Comparative Perspective Across Autocracies and Democracies
, pp. 118 - 135

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2026

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