How China systematically cracks down on dissidents in Germany

DER SPIEGEL How China systematically cracks down on dissidents in Germany Maria Christoph • 7 hours • 7 minutes read The Chinese state is harassing Uyghurs, Tibetans, and democracy activists living in Germany. German authorities are aware of death threats, cyberattacks, and coercion, and the victims complain of insufficient protection. The photo came via email, showing six brightly colored assault rifles in pink, brown, and black, neatly arranged on a blue tablecloth. The sender wrote: "Each of you choose your favorite color." A threat. Addressed to Zumretay Arkin, Vice President of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and a vocal critic of China. The anonymous sender had attached another photo to the email: It shows the entrance to a hotel in Sarajevo. The hotel in which Arkin and other Uyghurs were staying at the time, at the end of October 2024. The 31-year-old was attending the WUC delegate assembly. Arkin and other congress attendees remember two Chinese men in the lobby filming and photographing the Uyghurs. "I was under stress and adrenaline, I was extremely nervous and worried about the safety of our group," she recalled a few weeks later. Arkin lives in Munich, where there is a large community of hundreds of Uyghur exiles. Furthermore, the World Uyghur Congress has its headquarters in the Bavarian metropolis. From here, Arkin coordinates protests, prepares presentations at the United Nations, and consults with politicians and other Uyghur exiles. The activist believes that the threatening email with the colored weapons is part of a coordinated and planned attempt at intimidation, possibly directly from China. Even before the event, she and other delegates received threats from Chinese authorities, presumably intended to deter them from attending. Five delegates from the organization subsequently resigned from their positions. In April, Swedish authorities arrested a man allegedly spying on the World Uyghur Congress on behalf of China. Attacks of this kind are part of a system that experts call "transnational repression": the systematic suppression of dissidents across national borders. China's methods range from cyberattacks and family intimidation to false accusations and forced repatriation to China. According to internal documents, Western intelligence agencies believe that the Chinese state has the ability to "illegally arrest anyone, anywhere in the world." Arkin knows she is being watched; she says she is on a "blacklist" of the Chinese leadership. She was born and raised in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. When she was 10, Arkin and her family moved from the region. The Chinese regime has arrested more than 30 of her relatives, she says. Intimidation is becoming more professional Threats like those against Zumretay Arkin are apparently part of a Chinese strategy. SPIEGEL and other media outlets, together with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, have compiled over 100 cases from more than 20 countries in which China has targeted critics and activists abroad with death threats, coercion, and cyberattacks. A dozen have occurred in Germany alone. The aim is clearly to sow fear. And to send a message: We know where you are. And don't think you're safe. At the same time, many Uyghurs, Tibetans, people from Hong Kong, and Taiwan feel inadequately protected in Germany. The Federal Criminal Police Office doesn't even keep statistical records of cases of threats and repression of dissidents by China. This despite the fact that attempts to silence people like Zumretay Arkin are becoming more professional. Government sources say that "the worrying human rights situation" is "regularly addressed by the federal government at all levels." Furthermore, the German government protests "in the strongest possible terms" against "attempts to exert illegitimate influence on German territory." All available intelligence resources are being used to "investigate and counter repressive activities by foreign actors against dissidents living in Germany." Arkin's colleague Erkin Zunun is also familiar with the procedure. In the spring of 2025, the human rights activist received an email that began with "Ramadan Mubarak!" – a seemingly friendly greeting for the Islamic month of fasting. It contained a link to a supposed text program in the Uyghur language, which Zunun was supposed to test. Warnings from Google But behind it lay a Trojan, a malicious program that bypasses antivirus programs, overrides security settings, collects IP addresses, stores identification numbers, downloads local files, and sends them to the attacker.