Chinese police investigating online criticism of a military parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of “Victory Day” are targeting North Korean female defectors—who are illegal aliens in China—confiscating phones and bringing them in for questioning.
Multiple sources in China told Daily NK recently that Chinese police have been cracking down on online criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Liberation Army and the leaders of Russia and North Korea who attended the military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
“Posts that criticize Chinese President Xi Jinping for standing beside Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin at Tiananmen Square—a sacred historical site infused with the spirit of the Cultural Revolution—were spreading on Weibo,” the source said, referring to China’s popular microblogging platform.
“Remarks about Kim Jong Un have led investigators to consider female defectors as being potentially implicated in the posts and to bring them in for questioning,” the source said.
In Hubei and Hunan provinces and the cities of Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin, female defectors have described police confiscating electronic devices during home raids or calling them to stations for questioning. Some women reportedly still cannot retrieve their devices days later.
Fear spreads through defector communities
“One female defector in Shanghai was so afraid of being sent back to North Korea that she fled with her Chinese husband to relatives living far away, leaving her children with her mother-in-law. Another female defector in Tianjin became so anxious about receiving a police summons following Kim Jong Un’s visit to China that she had to be hospitalized,” said another source in China.
“In Chongqing, one female defector’s children have been watching the gate every night to make sure their mother isn’t taken away. As that story spread through the community, Chinese neighbors said they felt sorry that defectors were being blamed for critical posts written by Chinese citizens. Some locals said they don’t want authorities harassing defectors who have married Chinese citizens and started families,” the source added.
Police in some areas have explained that questioning and device inspections should not be interpreted as part of a repatriation campaign.
“A female defector who has long been the live-in girlfriend of a Chinese man was reassured by police that they were only investigating criticism about the military parade posted by subversive elements, which had nothing to do with sending people back to North Korea,” the source said.
Chinese police included female defectors in their investigation because defectors might be connected with online criticism of Kim Jong Un, and because defectors—lacking valid identification—must use phones registered under other people’s names.
Criticism of the military parade in online communities is being treated as a political issue in China. Italian news agency Agenzia Nova reported Sept. 5 that a man was arrested in Xiangyang, Hubei province, for posting critical comments about the parade. Video news outlet Zhangwen Shixun reported Sept. 6 that a 47-year-old Hubei man was arrested September 3 for expressing “inappropriate opinions” about the “Victory Day” parade.
“On an official level, police are identifying and punishing Chinese who disparaged the military parade. But covertly, they are also inspecting mobile devices of female defectors who are illegal aliens here. The crackdown on criticism of the military parade is once again raising the terrifying specter of repatriation for defectors in China,” the source said.
