Horror Zoo has been speaking out against the Chinese political party (CCP) from Australia but, like many activists there, she has discovered that criticizing the state can result in intimidation and threats. “People say they need to kill me. I can not tell what’s true and what’s not true,” Ms. Zoo (who goes by a pseudonym) told the. Relations between Australia and China are at their worst in years. Tensions have risen over trade, the treatment of the Muslim majority Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region, and therefore the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Ms. Zoo decided to organize a protest against the CCP in Melbourne last year, following reports that Chinese bloggers and doctors who tried to warn people about Covid had been censored by the state. She said the protest was also attended by Chinese nationalists. Ms. Zoo also ran a Twitter account parodying the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, which was suspended by the social media company. She believes her online activism is what led police in China to call her parents, who are supportive of the CCP. “The police contacted my parents in China and told them I do plenty of sensitive things on Twitter which I do some activism,” she said. “My parents think I betrayed China and that they think I should return and surrender myself. I feel the police still connect with them. My mum is incredibly scared of them. She doesn’t talk with me about any politics.” She said articles had been published about her on the Chinese app WeChat, which online threats had caused her psychological state to say no. “I am also afraid they’re going to collect my sensitive information because many friends have said something privately on very secure email but the police in China know what they’re doing,” she said. There is rising concern about the Chinese government’s influence in Australia and its effect on freedom of expression. Over the past few years, there are claims of Chinese interference in Australia’s government and also its universities. Clive Hamilton, professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University, said fears of Chinese government interference had been an “enormous and continuing issue in Australia for a few three or four years now”. “It represents a deep anxiety within the Australian community about Beijing’s attempts to influence Australia’s democratic institutions,” he said. “And there’s a grave concern at senior levels of state about the identical question. it has been one in all the highest two or three political issues in Australia in recent times.” Relations between the 2 countries deteriorated recently when Australia demanded an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Australia has also raised concerns over China’s alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Rights groups estimate that China has detained quite 1,000,000 Uyghurs and other Muslims within the region over the past few years, and also the Chinese state is accused of forced labor, sterilization, and other abuses. China denies those allegations, saying its network of camps in Xinjiang is a component of a crackdown on separatism and Islamist militancy. Along with other members of her community, Uyghur-Australian student Adila Yarmuhammad has been protesting every Friday outside the Chinese consulate in Adelaide, which is home to 1 of the most important overseas Uyghur communities outside Turkey. “Everyone there encompasses a friend missing,” she said. For Ms. Yarmuhammad, raising awareness of the plight of the Uyghurs in China has also brought the fear of being watched. “A number of years ago, lots folks were receiving phone calls a minimum of once every day,” she said. “If we didn’t develop, there would be a voice message left in Chinese that will tell us we would have liked to renew our visas. I used to be born in Australia, my parents are Australian citizens and most of the community are Australian citizens. It’s things like that that shake the community.” “Some came to my protest secretly and took pictures. I found my pictures on some Chinese nationalist websites,” she said.
Australia - Egypt