Operation Sky Net
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}{{Short description|Chinese clandestine operation}}
Operation Sky Net, commonly known as Skynet (Simplified Chinese: 天网), is a clandestine operation of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security to apprehend Overseas Chinese it sees as fugitives guilty of financial crimes in mainland China. The initiative was launched in 2015 to investigate offshore companies and underground banks that transfer money abroad.{{Cite news|date=2015-03-27|title=China launches Sky Net to catch corrupt officials overseas|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-32082137|access-date=2022-02-12}}{{Cite web|date=2015-03-29|title=China's anti-corruption campaign goes international as Beijing reaches out to uncover officials fled abroad|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/operation-skynet-china-s-anticorruption-campaign-goes-international-as-beijing-reaches-out-to-uncover-officials-fled-abroad-10142310.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/operation-skynet-china-s-anticorruption-campaign-goes-international-as-beijing-reaches-out-to-uncover-officials-fled-abroad-10142310.html |archive-date=2022-05-24 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-12|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2015-03-26|title=China ramps up global manhunt for corrupt officials with operation 'Skynet'|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1748113/china-ramps-global-manhunt-fugitive-corrupt-officials-skynet|access-date=2022-02-12|website=South China Morning Post|language=en|archive-date=2021-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801235801/https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1748113/china-ramps-global-manhunt-fugitive-corrupt-officials-skynet|url-status=live}} It has reportedly been consolidated with Operation Fox Hunt (which was launched in 2014, a year before Operation Sky Net) and returned around 10,000 fugitives to China in the last decade, including political dissidents and activists.{{Cite web|last=Loh|first=Matthew|title=Xi Jinping forced 10,000 people who fled overseas to return to China through an operation called 'Sky Net,' says human rights NGO|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/china-forced-10000-fugitives-return-operation-sky-net-safeguard-defenders-2022-1|access-date=2022-02-12|website=Business Insider|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last1=Berg |first1=Kirsten |last2=Rotella |first2=Sebastian |date=22 July 2021 |title=Operation Fox Hunt: How China Exports Repression Using a Network of Spies Hidden in Plain Sight |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/operation-fox-hunt-how-china-exports-repression-using-a-network-of-spies-hidden-in-plain-sight?token=Dv_ajwMsoPwiBmiNKQXVQWmnWZr8JG6Q |access-date=2022-02-12 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}
In 2016 alone, Operation Sky Net repatriated 1,032 fugitives from over 70 countries and recovered {{Currency|2.4 billion|CNY|passthrough=yes}}.{{Citation |last=Boutros |first=Andrew |title=China |date=2019-05-21 |work=From Baksheesh to Bribery: Understanding the Global Fight Against Corruption and Graft |pages=108–145 |editor-last=Funk |editor-first=T. Markus |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/35304/chapter-abstract/299926331?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2024-12-21 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190232399.003.0005 |isbn=978-0-19-023239-9 |editor2-last=Boutros |editor2-first=Andrew S.|url-access=subscription }} According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China has captured over 1,200 fugitives, including 140 Party members and government officials, and recovered {{Currency|2.91 billion|CNY|passthrough=yes}} ({{Currency|400 million|USD|passthrough=yes}}) of embezzled funds in 2023.{{Cite web |date=March 19, 2024 |title=China targets corrupt officials who have fled overseas |url=https://en.spp.gov.cn/2024-03/19/c_972514.htm |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=en.spp.gov.cn}}
Activities
Human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders highlighted methods used in Operation Sky Net, including the detention of fugitives' relatives in mainland China, dispatching agents overseas to illegally intimidate the person in their overseas location, or kidnap them and return them to China.{{Cite news |last=Shepherd |first=Christian |date=April 29, 2022 |title=China's aggressive efforts to bring back fugitives grow more brazen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/29/china-deportation-cyprus-uyghur/ |access-date=2022-05-06 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news |last=Alecci |first=Scilla |date=2024-04-16 |title=China relied on extrajudicial means to force thousands of fugitives to repatriate, human rights activists say |url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/china-relied-on-extrajudicial-means-to-force-thousands-of-fugitives-to-repatriate-human-rights-activists-say/ |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=International Consortium of Investigative Journalists |language=en-US}} In some cases, authorities froze family assets or even threatened to take away their children.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-18 |title=Involuntary Returns – report exposes long-arm policing overseas |url=https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/involuntary-returns-report-exposes-long-arm-policing-overseas |access-date=2022-02-12 |website=Safeguard Defenders |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Yallin |first=Omer |date=January 28, 2022 |title=These Dissidents Thought They Had Escaped. Then China's Long Arm Grabbed Them |url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/MAGAZINE-these-dissidents-thought-they-were-safe-then-china-s-long-arm-grabbed-them-1.10568944 |access-date=2022-02-12 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Hale |first=Erin |date=18 January 2022 |title='Picking quarrels': China critics overseas at increasing risk |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/18/china-critics-overseas-feel-the-long-reach-of-beijing-report |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811015807/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/18/china-critics-overseas-feel-the-long-reach-of-beijing-report |archive-date=2023-08-11 |access-date=2022-02-12 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}
In 2016, Operation Sky Net led to the escortion of Yang Xiuzhu, one of China's most-wanted fugitives according to a post of a list of 100 suspects "wanted for economic crimes and said to be living abroad" published in April 2015.{{Cite news |date=2016-11-16 |title=China's most-wanted economic fugitive Yang Xiuzhu surrenders |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37998796 |access-date=2024-12-20 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} She was escorted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to Beijing, where she was then turned over to Chinese authorities.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-18 |title=ICE removes former Chinese official wanted for corruption |url=https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-removes-former-chinese-official-wanted-corruption |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement |place=New York |language=en}} In 2018, Jacky Cheung held concerts in the cities of mainland China. Police from many provinces repeatedly arrested detected fugitives in the concert after the concert was over.{{Cite web |date=2018-10-04 |title="逃犯克星"张学友：国家技术太先进，要做该做的事情 |trans-title="Fugitive Nemesis" Jacky Cheung: Our country's technology is too advanced, we must do what we should do |url=https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2018-10-04/doc-ifxeuwws0761876.shtml |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=news.sina.com.cn}} In July 2018, the Uyghur Human Rights Project documented 395 cases of Uyghurs being deported, extradited, or rendered back to China.{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Helen |date=2022-01-18 |title=China forced 2,500 'fugitives' back from overseas during pandemic, report finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/18/china-forced-2500-fugitives-back-from-overseas-during-pandemic-report-finds |access-date=2024-12-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
Surveillance
The government also uses GIS mapping, image acquisition, and other technologies to monitor different areas of the country. It uses technologies such as facial recognition systems and artificial intelligence and is part of mainland China's large-scale surveillance system.{{Cite web |last=Jianguo |first=Meng |date=2019-04-15 |title=单月50万次人脸识别：中国如何用AI监控维族人 |trans-title=500,000 facial recognitions in a single month: How China uses AI to monitor Uighurs |url=https://cn.nytimes.com/technology/20190415/china-surveillance-artificial-intelligence-racial-profiling/ |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=The New York Times |language=zh-cmn-hans}} In 2023, China was estimated to have a huge surveillance network of around 540–626 million surveillance cameras.
See also
- Operation Fox Hunt
- Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping
- Chinese intelligence activity abroad
- Chinese information operations and information warfare
- Extraterritorial jurisdiction
- Hong Kong national security law
- Human rights in China
- Ministry of Public Security (China)
- Ministry of State Security (China)
- Political offences in China
References
{{Reflist}}
{{China national security}}
{{CCPCorruption2017}}
Category:Espionage in the United States
Category:Political repression in China
Category:Extraterritorial jurisdiction
Category:Ministry of Public Security (China)
Category:Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party