Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


The Reach of The State: China Tries to Muffle Those Living Abroad by
Intimidating their Families

Miao Yu

   WASHINGTON - Editor's Note: China's government is expanding its
   censorship controls by targeting Chinese citizens overseas who
   criticize Beijing on social media. The pressure tactic is called
   "zhulian" -- an ancient punishment meaning "guilt by association." It
   usually involves police threatening family members in China for the
   actions of their relatives overseas.

   This happened to "Zoo" (short for @HorrorZoo, her main handle on
   Twitter), a Chinese student pursuing graduate studies in Australia,
   whose father has been repeatedly summoned to the police station because
   of her criticism of Chinese Communist Party leaders on social media.

   But instead of censoring her Twitter account, "Zoo" has become more
   outspoken, providing multiple videos of police intimidating her via
   video chat. Her story provides a rare look at how China tries to use
   the families of dissidents to silence them.

   In April, Zoo's father was summoned to the police station in a small
   city in Southern China.

   The police questioned him about Zoo's Twitter account
   [1]@FakeNewsOfChina. The account had around 5,000 followers at the time
   of her interview with VOA, and she regularly uploads pictures and
   Tweets critical of China's President Xi Jinping.

   The police asked Zoo's father to call her via video chat on the spot,
   trying to force her to hand over the account password. Zoo recorded the
   whole conversation and later shared it with VOA.

   In the video chat, her father repeatedly urged her to tell the police
   her password.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/FakeNewsOfChina

.