STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
This next story is an example of how journalism sometimes works. You go looking for one story, one narrative. And if you keep your mind open and also dig into the facts, you discover the real story is entirely different. NPR global democracy correspondent Frank Langfitt was part of a team that investigated how China's government targets dissidents and critics overseas. Then, in one specific case, they discovered something else, something that raised doubts about everything they assumed to be true. Frank is in our studios. Frank, welcome.
FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: Hey, Steve, great to be here.
INSKEEP: Just to start with the overall topic here, I guess we should note, China really does target dissidents overseas, right?
LANGFITT: Absolutely, Steve, and it's extremely well documented.
INSKEEP: And this is something that you would know because you lived in China. You covered China. You've then moved to Europe and other parts of the world. Now you're in the United States. And what is the pattern you have seen?
LANGFITT: Well, it's like, over the years, Steve, I watched China essentially export repression from inside Chinese borders around the world. And this includes, of course, in Europe and in the United States. The Chinese government will use everything from online threats and, in a few cases, even abduction. And in 2022, there was this new tactic that seemed to emerge that I was intrigued by, calling in bomb threats to embassies and hotels using the names of Chinese dissidents.
INSKEEP: Making the dissidents seem like...
LANGFITT: Exactly.
INSKEEP: ...They were responsible for some bomb threats, some crimes...
LANGFITT: Exactly.
INSKEEP: ...Basically. How did that work?
LANGFITT: So somebody would contact a Chinese embassy or hotel, say the dissident had made the bomb threat, and then police might confront them, question them. And it's a form of - I - what people in America know as swatting, when someone reports a fake crime that tricks police into targeting somebody who didn't do anything wrong.
INSKEEP: OK, so who appeared to have been targeted like this?
LANGFITT: Maybe, like, a half dozen people in Europe and the U.S - the main person is this young, savvy Chinese dissident. His name is Wang Jingyu. He's just 22 years old. He lives in the Netherlands. And Wang said, this experience was really frustrating. And this is what he told me.
WANG JINGYU: I just told some police officer - I said, it's absolutely, you know, made by Chinese authority. And the police asked me, do you need a lawyer? I said, I don't need a lawyer 'cause I didn't do anything.
INSKEEP: Why would the Communist Party target this individual?
LANGFITT: Well, Wang relentlessly criticizes the Chinese government online, and he also has exposed what he says is the Communist Party attacking dissidents overseas. And these bomb threats - they appeared to be, as far as anybody could tell, payback. And he's - over time, Steve, he's become one of the most public victims of Chinese repression in all of Europe. There have been more than 50 news organizations that have mentioned, quoted or featured him. And here's just a taste of some of the coverage he's gotten.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Wang Jingyu is heading to his adversary. The Chinese Embassy...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Wang Jingyu is a political dissident based in The Hague who claims he has been harassed by people...
LANGFITT: And so last year, I was talking to Wang, and he gave me this tip on a new case. And it was focused on a housemate, a guy that he stayed within the Netherlands, a guy named Gao Zhi. Gao's also a dissident, a former factory worker.
And Gao's family, they were - Steve, they were traveling through Thailand, trying to get visas to the Netherlands. And they were in touch with Dutch immigration, and then they got this email from an account that identified itself as Dutch immigration, and it said that they've been accused of making bomb threats to airports in Europe. They were blocked from traveling to Europe. And in the confusion, Gao's wife and daughter - they overstay their visa, and they end up in immigration detention.
INSKEEP: So it appears here - the outside appearance is that the Chinese government is now targeting these people with fake claims. Why would Gao's family be targeted?
LANGFITT: Well, Gao wondered about that, as well. And the best he could tell and Wang could tell was this was just a way of getting at Wang through his friend, Gao.
INSKEEP: OK, so these guys believe the Chinese Communist Party is behind the bomb threat. But as journalists, of course, you need to - you and your team need to document these things. Was there any evidence?
LANGFITT: Yeah, it was a - this was a big challenge. Chinese diplomats, Thai police - they wouldn't talk about this case at all, and there was only one official document. This was an email from that Dutch immigration account I mentioned about the bomb threats. But there was - Steve, there was no email address. And when we asked Gao for it, he wouldn't give it to us.
INSKEEP: That's a little strange, since he's...
LANGFITT: It was very strange.
INSKEEP: ...Telling you he's a victim. So what did you do next?
LANGFITT: I did what anybody would do, any reporter. I called Dutch immigration. First, they wouldn't give me an answer. They cited privacy reasons. And then when I pressed them, they told me the email was a forgery.
INSKEEP: So the Netherlands authorities were not manipulated into sending these notes. They're fake. So what was really going on?
LANGFITT: What happened was these two men had a big falling out. And Gao told us, he thought he'd been conned, and he sent us hundreds of email exchanges with that Dutch immigration account. It turned out it was totally fake. The account actually tricked the family into thinking they'd been implicated in bomb threats, got them to turn over credit cards.
INSKEEP: Oh.
LANGFITT: And Gao said, Steve, there was one common thread in all of this.
GAO ZHI: (Through interpreter) To put it bluntly, Wang Jingyu has been misleading me.
INSKEEP: His friend, the guy...
LANGFITT: Yes.
INSKEEP: ...That you knew originally?
LANGFITT: The famous celebrity dissident in Europe.
INSKEEP: What did you do then?
LANGFITT: We flew to Amsterdam to see Wang and confront him, but he didn't show up. So I got him on the phone, and he was actually at a crowded restaurant.
The Gao family thinks that you and other people stole thousands and thousands of dollars from them.
WANG: This is ridiculous.
LANGFITT: It's ridiculous?
WANG: Ridiculous. And I promise, I will sue all of them.
LANGFITT: You will sue all of them. Have you ever called in a bomb threat ever?
WANG: Never.
LANGFITT: Have you ever sent an email and made a bomb threat?
WANG: Let's say it's ridiculous.
INSKEEP: OK. So he denies it, but at least in this case, Wang is accused of scamming a family out of their savings. But didn't you say that this guy has been seen as an authoritative source in news stories about Chinese repression?
LANGFITT: Absolutely. And what we're finding now is we're seeing some changes from those news organizations. The Associated Press, which did that story in Thailand - they've retracted it. A German documentary seen by more than 2 million people - that's been taken down, as well. And Deutsche Welle - that's Germany's public international broadcaster. They put a note on their coverage, saying the Thai bomb threats can no longer be reliably attributed to the Chinese state, and they linked to NPR's story.
INSKEEP: I want to emphasize - you're telling me that, in this case, it seems not to have been Chinese repression reaching outside the country, but that repression really happens...
LANGFITT: Indeed.
INSKEEP: ...And created a climate of fear that made it possible for someone to be conned.
LANGFITT: Yeah, and that's where the Communist Party has some responsibility here because if it didn't do this in the first place, it wouldn't be possible to create a scam - an alleged scam like this.
INSKEEP: And people used that fear for their own purposes.
LANGFITT: Indeed.
INSKEEP: NPR's Frank Langfitt, thanks so much for the insights.
LANGFITT: Thanks, Steve.
INSKEEP: If you want to read or hear more about this story, go to npr.org and put in the words, Chinese imposter.
(SOUNDBITE OF OCOUER'S "BREAKING THE CIRCLE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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