Activists warn of China's growing influence on culture, free speech in US

China's government is intensifying its campaign to reshape cultural identity and history of it's minority ethnic groups and political dissidents, with these efforts now extending to American soil

Activists testified at a US congressional hearing on Thursday, warning that China's government is intensifying its campaign to reshape the cultural identity and history of the country's minority ethnic groups and political dissidents, with these efforts now extending to American soil.

Tibetan, Uyghur, Mongolian, and Chinese activists stated that while the United States was once seen as a stronghold of free speech and a haven for cultural preservation for groups persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), many now fear the growing influence of Beijing's reach, according to Radio Free Asia.

Rishat Abbas, president of the US-based Uyghur Academy, informed the Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing that his sister, Gulshan, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in China because of the anti-government activism of him and other family members abroad.

 

According to the report, the US government has accused China's government of committing "genocide" against the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in the country's far-western region. Many Uyghurs living abroad are actively campaigning to stop the genocide and to preserve their language and culture.

Many Uyghurs choose to remain silent, considering the treatment of their family members still in China, who are often targeted when they speak out. They fear provoking the Chinese Communist Party, even from abroad. "My sister's imprisonment is a clear act of retaliation," Abbas explained.

"Her detention highlights the CCP's aggressive policies that target Uyghurs solely because of their identity and the activism of their relatives overseas."

He added, "She has never been involved in any form of advocacy." Despite this, Abbas remains undeterred and hopes to one day bring a Uyghur-language textbook created in the US back to Xinjiang, where Uyghurs live under constant surveillance.

Uyghur immigrants are not the only ones targeted. In the past, American universities such as Stanford University boldly compiled US-based historical archives on events censored by the Chinese government, according to Julian Ku, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University in New York. However, the situation has since changed.

The report further stated that Ku highlighted a lawsuit filed in the United States by the Beijing-based widow of Li Rui, a former secretary to Mao Zedong and later a dissident, who had donated his diaries to Stanford University. Stanford claims that Li Rui donated the diaries through his daughter, fearing they would be destroyed by Chinese authorities if left in China. However, Li Rui's widow argues that the diaries rightfully belong to her and is seeking their return.

Ku explained that the widow was being represented by "some of the most expensive law firms in the United States," despite the fact that she was likely funding the legal fees with her modest Chinese state pension, which could have already amounted to "hundreds of thousands of dollars -- or even more."

Describing the approach as "lawfare," Ku suggested that the widow likely had powerful supporters financing the legal battle, who may not even be concerned about whether the litigation succeeds. The nearly four years of expensive legal proceedings, according to Ku, sent a clear message to other US universities, museums, and non-profits to avoid acquiring any controversial documents that might attract Beijing's attention. "They might think, 'Maybe I shouldn't acquire this, as it could lead to litigation in both China and the US,'" he said. "It acts as a deterrent for universities, museums, and other institutions in the United States."

Like the Uyghurs, many ethnically Han Chinese in America also fear speaking out against Beijing, even while in the United States, according to Rowena He, a historian of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, who was banned from entering Hong Kong last year.

"It's hard not to feel emotional being here again because I remember 5 to 10 years ago when I was first invited to testify before Congress I was extremely hesitant, worried about my family members and deeply concerned."

She explained, "I've lived with fear ever since I started teaching and researching Tiananmen," referring to the "taboo" surrounding the topic in China, where the massacre is not acknowledged.

He suggested that increasing funding for curricula offering alternative Chinese histories, contrasting with Beijing's official narrative, could help counter China's government's "monopoly on historiography."

"If you go to Chinatown, many people still support the CCP, even though they're physically in the United States," she said, adding that figures like herself are often labelled as anti-government. "Sometimes people call us 'underground historians,' but I don't like that term," she said. "We are the historians."

Geshe Lobsang Monlam, a Tibetan monk who authored a 223-volume Tibetan dictionary and leads efforts to preserve the Tibetan language outside of China, stated that securing necessary funding is one of the biggest challenges for Tibetans living abroad, besides pressure from Beijing.

"Inside Tibet, young Tibetans seem powerless in their efforts to preserve and promote their language," he said, pointing to organised attempts to diminish the use of Tibetan as young people become more proficient in Mandarin through smartphones.

He added, "If the United States could assist by providing technological resources to help those of us in exile continue our work on preserving Tibetan culture, language, and way of life, it would be incredibly helpful."

Similarly, Temulun Togochog, a 17-year-old Southern Mongolian activist born in the US, also called for increased funding to support cultural preservation efforts.

Togochog explained that while the global decrease in attention to the struggles of Mongolians in China had allowed her family in the United States to teach her about Mongolian culture and language without fear of reprisal, resources were scarce.

She noted that Mongolians living in China's Inner Mongolia were facing treatment similar to that of Tibetans and Uyghurs, with "systematic oppression and erasure of the Mongolian language" being replaced by "patriotic education" that glorifies the communist party. In September 2020, many Southern Mongolians protested these policies through coordinated school boycotts and strikes, but the mass arrests that followed received little media coverage, she explained.

"Around 300,000 southern Mongolian students joined the movement," she said.

"The Chinese government responded severely, detaining and placing 8,000 to 10,000 people under house arrest."

The young activist urged Congress to fund Mongolian-language programs on Voice of America, which currently do not exist, emphasising that this would help the "minority within a minority" preserve their language, culture, and identity from being erased.