Italian prosecutor moves against China’s United Front
Italská státní prokuratura uzavřela vyšetřování deseti osob podezřelých z umlčování Li Ying, známého čínského disidenta a influencera, s obviněním z dohledávání, nátlaku a zastrašování. Čtyři z nich čelí i obvinění z kriminálního spiknutí; ostatní šesti byli zapojeni do sledování a „pronásledování“, avšak nebyli trvale součástí organizace. Vyšetřování údajně odhalilo desítky videí z Liho okolí a některé jména jsou spojovány s čínskou policií a čínskými zahraničními organizacemi, včetně členů United Front Work Department. V záměru skupiny bylo potlačit veřejné diskuze o situaci v domovské zemi a omezit svobodu projevu; v minulosti z italských úřadů bylo vyhoštěno osm čínských občanů na národní bezpečnostní důvody související se stejným případem.
According to Italian news reports, Milan’s Public Prosecutor has officially closed investigations against ten individuals suspected of stalking, surveilling, pressuring and threatening Li Ying, the famous Chinese dissident-influencer better known under his handle Teacher Li is not your Teacher. The end of the years-long investigations conducted by the specialized Digos police in Turin opens the door to a request for trial against the suspects.
The ten suspects – who have not yet been charged - are all accused of acting on behalf of Chinese authorities with the aim of silencing Li. Four of them are also accused of criminal conspiracy. The other six individuals under investigation were reportedly involved in monitoring and “tailing” targets, though they were not “permanently integrated into the organization”.
During the investigations, police are said to have uncovered dozens of surveillance videos of Li and the surroundings of his home.
Among the suspects, some familiar names. One in particular as Corriere della Sera reports: Wang Songqiang – who we described in our exposé on the transnational repression activities against Li Ying in 2024 – would have “acted on behalf of the Chinese police and maintained close contact with diplomatic staff and certain members of the United Front Work Department”. Wang has long had a leadership role in various Fujianese united front affiliated groups across Italy, including in Milan. Another suspect is Zhengang Liu, chairman of the same Italian Fujian Overseas Chinese Business Federation Wang is linked to. A third suspect, Jianbin Zhao, would have recruited other individuals to engage in the stalking of Li Ying via WeChat.
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the purpose of the group was to suppress “communications regarding the situation in their home country” and to obstruct “the exercise of the right to freedom of expression”.
Earlier this year, Italy had expelled eight Chinese nationals from Schengen territory on national security grounds for their involvement in the same case.
The latest news comes just ahead of Safeguard Defenders’ planned release next week of the follow-up to its 2022 reports on “Chinese Overseas Police Service Centers”.
Detailing more stations in more countries, A Formula for Repression shows how Chinese authorities aggressively continue to expand their illicit activities abroad. Those policies, under the direction of Xi Jinping himself, explain why we keep seeing the same patterns across the world. From Turin and Milan to New York; from Tokyo to Paris: one aim, one method, and one network at the center of it all.
A Formula for Repression – China’s Global Grid for Community Control will be launched at the IPAC Summit in The Hague on November 6.
https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/italian-prosecutor-moves-against-chinas-united-front
