Apparently
unnoticed by the appropriate authorities, the political and economic
influence of certain Chinese organizations in Europe and Germany
continues to develop. It
is amazing to see how unknown is, for example, the European
Confederation of Fujian Associations or even the United Front Work
Department. The statements of so-called “experts” responsible for
counter-intelligence is more or less frustrating.
On the European level some of those influential persons can be asked about their work and their political agenda at their regular meetings:
In Germany one could call this gentleman and discuss his solely economic interests and “independence” from the Chinese Communist Party:
It’s
not just shady business people, academics and politicians of the B
class in Bucharest who are paid by Beijing and
who enthusiastically present Xi Jinping’s book – which is as dull as dishwater – to the camera. No, the influence takes place in the middle of stable and established democracies and it’s not only the work of Russia. But this is another story and anybody who is interested can read a few more aspects about it here.
I take this short detour in my ongoing research into Chinese front organizations as an opportunity to point out my new paper: “Tigers, Flies and Crocodiles: Hunting
Season for Chinese Intelligence. Chinese Anti-Corruption Campaigns in
an Aggressive Foreign Policy” – which can be found here.
In recent years, there has been a massive increase in Chinese
authorities hunting down their own citizens abroad. Although the Chinese
government’s anti-corruption campaign has led to numerous suspects
returning to China and reporting to the police, it has repeatedly been
criticised for providing the basis to eliminate any political and
economic opposition. Various institutions, including Chinese
intelligence agencies, operating worldwide, carry out these hunts. Their
advancements illustrate the global orientation of such organisations,
which has developed in line with Beijing’s growing confidence and
changing foreign policy.
