China's Surveillance of Chinese Diaspora: A Look into Beijing's Religious Interference

The allegations of surveillance against Chinese diaspora communities by Beijing's intelligence organs have raised concerns about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) tolerance for religious groups outside its direct control. At the center of a recent espionage case in Australia is Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, an international Buddhist organization with chapters in Australia, which has been banned in China and accused of promoting fringe beliefs and abusing Buddhist scriptures.

Key Takeaways:

• The CCP views religion as a cultural signifier of ethnicity that must be managed within both China and diaspora communities to influence the domestic population.
• Under Xi Jinping's authoritarian rule, anything perceived as threatening the party's authority is treated as a grave threat, making surveillance of religious groups a national security issue.
• China's security apparatus has expanded globally, with extraterritorial security laws, espionage networks, and rising rates of transnational repression affecting bilateral relations and targeting various groups, including religious practitioners.
• The CCP has been accused of restricting religious practice in China, with believers across all religions facing repression and persecution, particularly in Xinjiang and among Tibetan Buddhists.
• The Chinese government has a history of controversy surrounding Guan Yin Citta, with a follower jailed for five years in 2016 for printing an unauthorized journal, and Master Lu banned from entering China before his death.
• The organization's global reach and claims of having 10 million members worldwide, with 5 million in China, contrast with the Chinese government's estimate of 50,000 members.

Statistics:

• 10 million: the number of Guan Yin Citta members worldwide, according to the organization.
• 5 million: the number of Guan Yin Citta members in China, according to the organization.
• 50,000: the estimated number of Guan Yin Citta members in China, according to the Chinese government.
• 2016: the year a Henan province follower was jailed for five years for printing 100,000 copies of an "unauthorized" Guan Yin Citta journal.
• 5 years: the jail sentence given to the follower.

Sources:

• A Chinese-born woman was charged with reckless foreign interference in April 2023, accused of spying on the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door's Australian branches on behalf of the Chinese Communist party's intelligence organs. (Source: Australian police)
• Guan Yin Citta has been banned in China and people warned to steer clear of it. (Source: State media)
• State media has accused it of being a cult with "evil theories" and officials have vowed to crack down on it with "an iron fist". (Source: State media)
• In 2015, a 2015 letter by 16 Malaysian Buddhist groups criticized Guan Yin Citta for allegedly distorting teachings, and Master Lu of abusing Buddhist scriptures and mantras. (Source: Malaysian Buddhist groups)
• According to a historian of China, under the increasingly authoritarian rule of Xi Jinping, all things that could threaten the party in any way are seen as equivalent. (Source: Historian John Fitzgerald)