The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s law enforcement agencies “routinely track, harass, threaten and repatriate people who flee the country, many of them Turkic-speaking Uyghurs”, under its SkyNet surveillance program that reaches far beyond China's borders, reported Radio Free Asia. Sharp Eyes, sometimes called “Project Dazzling Snow” or “Xue Liang,” is another surveillance program targeted at rural areas.
CCP authorities claim that ‘Sharp Eyes’ is designed for public security, crime prevention, and control; and to make people feel secure and at ease with the monitoring in and of their homes. However, these claims of the system being used for security purposes are false and misleading. This mass surveillance apparatus targets Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, with technology having enabled it to become more targeted and effective. They are being targeted both within and outside China. This instills fear in Uyghurs’ minds that every aspect of their behavior is monitored, but most importantly this enables CCP to single out Uyghurs for detention in the internment camp system.
According to WSJ, under Operation Sky Net launched by the Chinese government in 2015 to repatriate overseas “fugitives” through any means, Chinese police and security personnel routinely conduct illegal operations in other countries. Beijing claims that more than 10,000 people have been repatriated from more than 120 countries since Operation Fox Hunt, the precursor to Operation Sky Net, launched in 2014.
Tibet Rights Collective had launched a campaign to examine the ways in which Skynet system operates and to highlight the lack of information about the use of Skynet to track the movement of Tibetans within and outside Tibet by China. Due to strict controls on the flow of information from Tibet and lack of access to certain areas of Tibet for journalists and diplomats, there is an information blackout from Tibet regarding surveillance tactics and threats to personal freedom.
(Information supplied by Radio Free Asia)
By Team TRC