A site likely connected with Chinese intelligence services publishes lists of refugees who have applied for asylum in Italy. How does it get them?
Massimo Introvigne
The Church of Almighty God is, along with Falun Gong, the most persecuted religious movement in China, as recognized by numerous documents from international organizations and national governments. I dedicated a book published by Oxford University Press to this Christian new religious movement, to which I refer for more information.
Because of the persecution, torture, and extra-judicial killings to which members of the movement are subjected, those who can flee abroad and apply for asylum. Even abroad, however, they cannot feel safe. As reported in a film produced by “Bitter Winter,” China’s “Long Arm of the Dragon” spies on and harasses refugees abroad as well.
To several previous episodes is now added a very serious scandal that unfortunately concerns the country where “Bitter Winter” is published, Italy.
Since 2017, a website called 大爱网 (Da Ai Wang) has been operating in China. It has been involved in attacking The Church of Almighty God, Falun Gong, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and occasionally other groups blacklisted and persecuted in China. Chinese laws stipulate that any site dealing with religion must be authorized by the government and operate in cooperation with government agencies responsible for overseeing religions. So any Chinese site dealing with these matters is by definition connected to the government. Da Ai Wang is worse, though. It regularly posts texts against religious minorities (and against “Bitter Winter”) widely believed to be produced by Chinese intelligence services. That Dai Ai Wang is one among several propaganda and disinformation sites run by the Chinese services is thus more than a guess.
Since 2022, Da Ai Wang has published lists of members of The Church of Almighty God who have applied for asylum in Italy. Refugees in Italy and their lawyers only recently became aware of what was happening. Da Ai Wang makes no secret of its purposes and writes: “To prevent… other Chinese citizens from being deceived by cults and illegally leaving the country to seek asylum as refugees in Italy or other countries, and to protect the legal rights of affected Chinese families, as well as to urge the return of the individuals involved, our website has decided to publish, starting on May 16, 2022, lists of members of The Church of Almighty God who have illegally applied for religious asylum in Italy. To gather more information about missing persons, our website will regularly update the list of those who have illegally filed asylum applications until these people voluntarily return to their homeland. If you have information on any of the individuals listed, please contact us immediately to support future search activities abroad.” The statement is signed by an otherwise unknown “Chinese Delegation to Search for Missing Persons Abroad.”
The threatening tone is evident. Under Chinese law, any application for asylum in a foreign country is “illegal”—those who submit it commit the crime of defaming Chinese institutions—and the publication is intended to “urge the return” of refugees to China, where prison awaits them as numerous cases of repatriated asylum seekers show. It also encourages reporting asylum seekers, which under Chinese law can be rewarded with cash awards.
From 2022 to 2024, twelve batches of information have been published containing names, surnames, and precise data of Chinese nationals who are members of The Church of Almighty God who fled to Italy and applied for asylum here. We are not publishing them, but we keep copies and unfortunately as of today’s date they are still accessible on the Da Ai Wang website.
These refugees and others,whose names may be added in the future, if they were to be deported to China, would be exposed to a very serious danger. Not only does the Chinese government know that they are active members of the Church of Almighty God, which is already a crime in itself, punishable by severe prison sentences according to Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code, relating to those active in a movement banned as a “xie jiao” (“organization spreading heterodox teachings,” sometimes translated less accurately as “evil cult”). Those who apply for asylum can also be charged with endangering national security, a crime for which penalties range up to life imprisonment.
Refugees in Italy from The Church of Almighty God know the risks they face and the possibility of reprisals on their families in China. That is why The Church of Almighty Gof does not compile or maintain lists of asylum seekers. Nor does any lawyer have them because, partly for reasons of security, the Church’s refugees in Italy rely on several different lawyers.
We are therefore confronted with a scandal. Where do these lists come from? Only the Ministry of the Interior and other Italian institutions can have or compile these lists. Has Chinese espionage penetrated inside the Italian institutions? Or has somebody been bribed by money from Beijing? We are unable to answer these questions. But we are waiting to hear from those who can and should answer them.
Source: BITTER WINTER
