News Desk
MIDLAND, Texas — Bob Fu knows the Chinese Communist Party’s wrath intimately. A former student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, he fled to the United States decades ago seeking refuge. Now, as the founder of ChinaAid Association, a nonprofit advocating for religious freedom, he warns that the long arm of Beijing is tightening its grip—not just within China, but across the globe, including on American soil.
In a recent op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Fu recounted the relentless harassment he and his family have endured in Texas, from menacing phone calls to shadowy figures trailing them in their quiet neighborhood. The FBI, he said, has stepped in to investigate. For Mr. Fu, these are not isolated incidents but part of a broader, chilling strategy by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), under Xi Jinping’s iron-fisted rule, to silence dissent wherever it emerges.
“Xi’s regime doesn’t care about borders,” Mr. Fu said in an interview. “If you criticize them, they’ll find you—whether you’re in Shanghai or San Francisco.” He points to a pattern of escalating repression that he believes has intensified since Mr. Xi assumed power in 2012, a campaign that targets not only political activists but also religious believers, ethnic minorities, and anyone who dares to defy the party’s orthodoxy.
The evidence, Mr. Fu argues, is mounting. He cites the case of Wang Shujun, a naturalized U.S. citizen convicted last year of acting as a spy for Beijing, infiltrating dissident circles in New York to report back to Chinese authorities. Then there are the allegations against Linda Sun, once an aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, accused of covertly serving Chinese interests. Beyond espionage, Mr. Fu describes a more brazen tactic: orchestrated violence. During Mr. Xi’s visit to San Francisco in November 2023, pro-CCP groups—allegedly backed by Chinese consulates—clashed with protesters, leaving dissidents bloodied in the streets.
China’s domestic record offers little reassurance. Under Mr. Xi, the CCP has demolished churches, imprisoned pastors, and forced millions of Uyghur Muslims into internment camps—a campaign so severe that the U.S. government has labeled it genocide. Mr. Fu recalls how, in 2021, Chinese officials pressured New York’s then-Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul to refrain from acknowledging the Uyghur detentions, a sign of Beijing’s audacity even in the American political sphere.
For Chinese Americans like Mr. Fu, the sense of safety once afforded by life in the United States is fraying. “This is supposed to be a land of freedom,” he said, his voice tinged with frustration. “But when your family is stalked, when your phone rings with threats from halfway around the world, that freedom feels hollow.”
The U.S. government is beginning to respond. Lawmakers, including Representatives August Pfluger of Texas, Gabe Evans of Colorado, and Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island, have introduced bills to combat what they call “transnational repression.” The proposed legislation would create task forces to track foreign harassment and offer support to victims. Mr. Fu welcomes the effort but remains skeptical. “Laws are a start,” he said, “but they won’t stop the CCP unless people understand the scale of what’s happening.”
He draws a stark historical comparison: During the Cold War, the United States would not have tolerated Soviet agents menacing religious activists or assaulting dissidents on its streets. “We shouldn’t accept it from China now,” he said. Yet, as Beijing’s influence grows—fueled by economic might and a disregard for international norms—Mr. Fu fears the West’s resolve is faltering.
For Mr. Fu, the stakes are personal. His faith, which led him to challenge the CCP decades ago, remains his anchor. But it also makes him a target. “Xi wants to control what we believe, what we say, even what we think,” he said. “That’s not just a Chinese problem. It’s a global one.”
As Washington debates its next steps, Mr. Fu’s message is clear: The CCP’s war on dissent knows no boundaries—and neither should the fight to stop it.
