My Personal Experience as a Dissident International Student

Students from totalitarian regimes more or less have some fear even after they arrive in the land of freedom. The main reason is that their fellows may act as spies to report their speeches or actions to the embassy. 

 

In 2000, I was a fifth-year graduate student at Caltech. My personal life was simple. I played badminton three times a week, meditated daily with Falun Gong practice, and served as a treasurer for the Caltech Chinese Student Club (Caltech C). The Chinese authority started persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, but I continued to meditate on campus every morning. I noticed some Chinese folks took pictures or videos of us during the meditation sessions. One day, the president of the Chinese student club warned me. "Wen, you better be careful." said he, "The Chinese consulate asked me to report your activities." He said he was probably not the only one who got this "request".

 

It happened to many universities. A few years ago, a colleague told me about his experience as the president of the Chinese student club at the University of Connecticut. "The Chinese Consulate gave me a list of names and asked me to report their activities. Everyone on the list was a Falun Gong practitioner."

 

Why would the Chinese government target students like us? Practicing the Falun Gong meditation that the Chinese government attempted to eliminate in public may not seem to be a big deal to Americans. However, it weakens the propaganda of demonizing Falun Gong to justify the persecution in China. In the eyes of the Chinese authority, my meditation in public was a silent statement. Even after I left China, I was still monitored by a foreign government through other pro-Communism Chinese students.

 

What will happen after dissidents are reported to the Chinese consulate? Their family members in China will get into trouble. These student dissidents are often bullied online. In 2000, I received dozens of harassment emails from other Chinese students. Some of them were so nasty that I immediately deleted them. It was the most challenging moment as a Caltech graduate student. The International Student Program was aware of the problem but would not take any action. It was a time when everyone wanted to build up a good relationship with the Chinese government for better businesses.

 

Fortunately, I received my Ph.D. with flying colors, settled on my new role as a staff scientist at Caltech, and gradually distanced myself from the Chinese community after I started a family. I am thankful to my friends at Amnesty International Group 22. They supported my activism and encouraged me to speak out.

 

This kind of harassment can happen to any Chinese student who criticizes the Chinese authority. In 2024, Former Berklee College of Music Student Wu Xiaolei was sentenced to prison for stalking his pro-democracy Chinese classmate (1). Wu “allegedly told the victim that he had informed the public security agency in China about the victim’s actions and that the public security agency in China would ‘greet’ the victim’s family. It is further alleged that Wu solicited others to find out where the victim was living and publicly posted the victim’s email address in the hopes that others would abuse the victim online.” (2)

 

In March 2022, Chinese students at Cornell University bullied a Uyghur student Rizwangul NurMuhammad for mentioning her imprisoned brother in Xinjiang(3). ProPublica published an article in 2021 "Students and scholars from China who criticize the regime in Beijing can face quick retaliation from fellow students and Chinese officials who harass their families back home. U.S. universities rarely intervene." (4)

 

Universities always promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). How can we allow this toxic culture on our campuses for decades, and the school admin would take no action? Students can have different opinions about politics in any country. But reporting dissidents to a foreign government, putting their families in danger, and organized bullying in person or online is not OK.

 

A couple of years ago, I witnessed the fear of another Chinese graduate student at Caltech when asked about his family's experience during the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. It was the same fear that I experienced 25 years ago. It motivated me to write down my personal story. It has been two decades but our next generation still cannot speak freely. It is a shame that we remained silent.

 

References:

 

1. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/former-berklee-college-music-student-sentenced-prison-threatening-individual-promoting
2. https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-student-in-us-charged-with-stalking-pro-democracy-chinese-classmate/6880489.html
3. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/rizwangul-nurmuhammad-03172022190232.html
4. https://www.propublica.org/article/even-on-us-campuses-china-cracks-down-on-students-who-speak-out