The Chinese regime is sending spies abroad to illegally capture and repatriate former officials wanted for corruption. Contrary to reports, however, this drive isn’t about crime fighting. According to a former Chinese spy, it’s about preventing information leaks.
Through what it calls Operation Fox Hunt, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending agents abroad who are threatening and harassing people wanted for corruption in China. The State Department allegedly warned CCP leaders to stop this practice.
The agents are being sent through the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security, according to New York Times. Since 2014, the program has repatriated 930 suspects, only 70 of whom returned voluntarily.
While the CCP has branded the operation as a drive to enforce Chinese law abroad—and while this line has been picked up by foreign press—it’s not the case. The operation is being done out of fear that former Chinese officials running from the law may expose the internal affairs of the CCP.
“All of these people are insiders, they can make reports, publish online, and leak secrets,” said Lu Dong, a former leading agent of influence for the CCP, who is now an outspoken critic of the Chinese regime.
Among the people on the CCP’s wanted list are former Chinese officials, business leaders, and military officers who have inside knowledge of the CCP’s policies.
By placing these officials in its crosshairs, Lu said, there is a high probability that they'll seek the protection of local authorities. Once that happens, they’re likely to speak more openly about the CCP, and may leak secrets.
“These people are experienced insiders,” Lu said, noting that each of them could become a powerful and influential dissident—and this is what the CCP is most afraid of.
Even for those who don’t readily step out, the CCP regards them as liabilities. Lu said that every story that breaks in China is a threat to the CCP, which actively controls news narratives through its state-run press and heavy Internet censorship.
These officials know the stories behind the news in China, Lu said. “If they are in the United States, and in their spare time they read some newspaper and comment anonymously on a blog, they'll leak secrets.”
The CCP acknowledged this concern in an op-ed piece published on Aug. 18 in its state-run Global Times.
The article acknowledges, “Operation Fox Hunt is conducted across the world,” and claims “The United States has become a haven for so many corrupt Chinese officials.”
It claims, “Some American elites are actually happy to see more corrupt officials fleeing to the United States.” and states, “Some of them might become a card for the United States to play in countering China.”
During an Aug. 17 press briefing, State Department spokesman John Kirby declined to comment on the specific claim that the United States warned the CCP about sending agents to make arrests on U.S. soil.
Kirby did say, however, “it’s a criminal offense” for anyone, with few exceptions, “to act in the United States as a law enforcement agent of a foreign power” without first notifying the attorney general.
