Prostest against China's human rights violations in Xinjiang (archive image). © WIktor Szymanowicz/Imago
In the Netherlands, a former China correspondent has become the target of a campaign of intimidation. Beijing is suspected to be the originator. Authorities are alarmed.
This article is IPPEN. MEDIA in the course of a cooperation with the Europe.Table Professional Briefing – it was first published by Europe.Table on 15 May 2023.
The Hague/Berlin – Marije Vlaskamp knows how the Chinese authorities proceed when they want to silence someone. After all, before returning to The Hague, the Dutchwoman reported from Beijing as a correspondent for almost 25 years. And yet she is now shocked. The 54-year-old journalist describes in detail in her newspaper de Volkskrant how she herself has become the target of a massive campaign of intimidation. To the point of a staged bomb threat in her name and in the name of Wang Jingyu, one of her interlocutors from the Chinese dissident scene.
This was the trigger for Marije Vlaskamp and her editors to go public with the story on their own behalf. The journalist had accompanied Wang Jingyu since his flight from China and his arrival in the Netherlands, using his example to describe how China terrorizes dissidents and critics even in exile. In the fall, the escalation: Wang Jingyu received new threats via the Telegram messaging service, in which he was insulted as a "traitor" and asked to keep his mouth shut. He should stop giving interviews, delete his Twitter account and make sure that the articles about him are taken off the net. "One tip from me, and the police will arrest you and your journalist friend," the last announcement read.
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Origin China: False bomb threat in the name of Dutch reporter
Almost at the same time, Marije Vlaskamp and Wang Jingyu received confirmations for a booking at the same hotel in The Hague's government district near the Chinese embassy, which they had not made themselves. The journalist was finally alarmed when she heard about a bomb threat on the news and that the police had cordoned off the government district. A short time later, another bomb threat in her name against China's embassy in Oslo followed.
The tactics of psychological warfare would otherwise be used by the Chinese regime against former Chinese citizens, dissidents, Uyghurs or Tibetans, according to Marije Vlaskamp. It is probably a first for unknown persons to threaten a Dutch journalist outside China on behalf of the Chinese state. The attackers don't even try to cover up their background. The embassy itself alerted the police in the case of the alleged bomb threat and is said to have given the names of Vlaskamp and Wang Jingyu. Bomb threats and hotel reservations could be traced back to IP addresses in China and Hong Kong, the Dutch judicial authorities also reported.
Reporters Without Borders calls on China to shed light
Reporters Without Borders this week called on authorities to identify those responsible for the false bomb threats on behalf of two journalists in the Netherlands and Germany. The Chinese journalist Su Yutong, who lives in Germany and reports for the broadcaster Free Asia, has been put under massive pressure in a similar style. Hotels in Berlin, New York, Houston, Los Angeles and Istanbul, among others, were booked in their name, followed by false bomb threats. "These particularly vicious methods bear all the hallmarks of the Chinese regime's intimidation tactics," the NGO said.
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Dutch MEP Bart Groothuis, an expert in the fight against disinformation and foreign influence, takes a similar view. He speaks of the handwriting of the United Front Work Department, an instrument of China's Communist Party to silence critics abroad. "The attack on Marije Vlaskamp is a new signal that China is prepared to do in order to silence people in the West," says the politician of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's right-wing liberal ruling party.
Dutch MEP Groothuis: Security authorities have a duty
In the meantime, there are hardly any female scientists and/or universities in the West who conduct research on the fate of the Uyghurs, the end of freedom in Hong Kong or the United Front network, for example, according to Groothuis. One has to fear that contacts will be harassed or that one will be arrested when traveling abroad. For example, because of the extradition agreements that China has concluded with many countries worldwide.
Groothuis believes that secret services and security agencies have a duty. For a long time, the focus was on Russia and the danger posed by China was neglected. Moreover, there is no point in summoning Chinese ambassadors and protesting. "We need to clearly communicate to China that hostile interference and intimidation campaigns come at an economic cost."
Groothuis is not advocating a decoupling from China. However, the EU must take a closer look at investments from China, Russia and Iran in a more targeted manner than before, always with a focus on possible security risks for Western democracies. The MEP sees this as a central task for the next EU Commission.
Uyghur activist: "Authorities have neglected the danger posed by China"
Alerk Ablikim also speaks plainly. The Dutchman and native Uyghur is co-founder of a platform of various immigrant groups, including those from Turkey, Morocco, Eritrea and Belarus, who are mobilizing against foreign influence. The case of Marije Vlaskamp shows how big the problem of intimidation by foreign regimes in Europe has become. Immigrants from China, Turkey, Morocco or Eritrea suffer daily under the long arm of their country of origin. It is not enough to set up a hotline and increase criminal liability for espionage, as the Dutch government intends to do.
In an open letter, the platform calls on the government in The Hague to appoint a national coordinator: "Foreign interference – including intimidation – is a growing societal problem that threatens Dutch democracy." Politicians must generally react more decisively, according to co-initiator Alerk Ablikim.
The activist specifically mentions the example of the illegal police stations from which China harasses opposition members. China has also operated two stations in the Netherlands. China has closed the stations in Rotterdam and Amsterdam after protests. Unlike in the United States, however, there have been no arrests or other consequences. It's like an invitation to China. The activist calls for Europe to show more clear red lines against hostile interference in the future and for Western democracies to fight cross-border repression more decisively. (By Stephan Israel)