A former spy says the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ambitions to gain “full control” over overseas Chinese communities amid global warnings of an uptick in transnational repression.
His comments follow the arrest of a Chinese woman by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) last week accused of spying on a Canberra-based Buddhist group at the behest of the CCP.
“This case shows that even smaller marginal groups are not exempt from the CCP’s surveillance,” said Eric (surname withheld), a former spy for the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security who defected to Australia in 2023.
“China not only suppresses specific groups and individuals, such as Falun Gong practitioners and dissidents; in reality, the scope of its surveillance and repression is broad, targeting the entire Chinese community,” he said in an interview with The Epoch Times conducted in Chinese.
“Eliminating dissent, exerting full control over the Chinese diaspora, and further influencing local politics have long been its objectives.”
