Silence in the Face of CCP’s Repression Is ‘Oxygen’ for Regime, Author and Uyghur Activist Says

Beijing uses silence as fuel for its repression campaign, says a Uyghur activist and author, who is calling on the Canadian government to address transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Rushan Abbas is president of the U.S.-based Campaign for Uyghurs and author of the book “Unbroken: One Uyghur’s Fight for Freedom.” She told The Epoch Times in an interview on May 6 that her book is not just her personal story, but a window into how the international community is affected by the CCP’s “authoritarian playbook.”

Speaking at an April 22 book launch event in Ottawa for the Canadian release of “Unbroken,” Abbas said she refuses to be silent about the CCP’s repression, saying, “the only way to deal with the bully is to stand up and take action.”

“Silence is the oxygen of the dictator, and we should not give them that oxygen to survive,” she added.

She noted that her book serves as a “warning to the world” about how the CCP’s repression can impact peoples’ lives abroad.

Her book recounts her sister’s disappearance after Abbas delivered her first public speech in the United States in 2018, condemning the CCP’s human rights abuses. She said her sister, a retired doctor in China, was abducted and jailed six days after her speech.

“This is the brutal reality of transnational repression [by] the Chinese Communist Party. For the Uyghur diaspora, freedom of expression is not a guaranteed right,” Abbas said that the CCP weaponizes victims’ ties to family members in China, using them to attempt to silence dissidents abroad.

Sen. Leo Housakos, leader of the Conservatives in the Senate, also spoke the book launch event, saying “Unbroken” serves as a reminder that authoritarian regimes “fear the voices of those who dare to speak.”

Housakos said the book forces the reader to ask themselves how much they are “willing to tolerate in the name of comfort, economic concerns, or silence, because neutrality in the face of oppression isn’t neutral.”

Also speaking at the book launch, Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi said that while he doesn’t have an issue with how countries choose to govern themselves, he takes issue when countries are “enacting oppression” towards their own citizens or others beyond their borders.

He noted that Canadians must continue to speak out against transnational repression, while acknowledging that it can be difficult “for a number of different reasons.”

Call to Action

Abbas told The Epoch Times that governments must take “firm actions” against transnational repression by the Chinese regime.

She said measures should include establishing a formal definition of transnational repression, creating clear channels for reporting incidents, and imposing sanctions to ensure those responsible cannot continue operating without consequence.

She also noted that countries must ensure refugees are “protected from deportation to the very country they fled,” by refusing extradition requests from Beijing and shutting down Chinese overseas police stations operating on democratic soil.

“These stations are not diplomatic outposts. They are surveillance networks designed to monitor, intimidate, and silence diaspora communities who came to free countries seeking safety,” Abbas said.

A House of Commons report released in 2023 said “at least five” illicit police stations were operating secretly in Canada. A 2022 report by Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders said secret police operations target those sought by the Chinese regime, including dissidents and democracy activists, and “eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation.”

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has also confirmed the stations serve in part to collect intelligence and monitor Chinese dissidents living in Canada as part of a “broader transnational anti-corruption, repression and repatriation campaign.”

Abbas also said governments need to “hold China accountable for the Uyghur genocide” and protect their own citizens and security. She said policies should be implemented to presume all goods from the Uyghur region are tainted with forced labour, similar to the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act.

While the Canadian government has acknowledged the use of forced labour in China, Canadian law does not allow border officers to automatically block goods from regions known for such practices. Instead, officers must assess imported goods “unless proven otherwise,” and make determinations on a case-by-case, shipment-by-shipment basis.

Abbas said government officials need to be constantly reminded that doing business with China “carries risks to national sovereignty, security, and economic competitiveness,” as the CCP uses trade deals and investments to “extend influence into institutions, supply chains, and even democratic processes.”

Abbas noted that she wrote “Unbroken” because data and reports do not fully capture the impact of the issue.

“Statistics alone do not capture the Uyghur genocide and what it feels like to lose your sister because you choose to speak up,” she said.

“The genocide often feels distant and abstract to many. Unbroken is my attempt to close that distance,” she added.

Abbas said her book shows how repression is not exclusive to those living in China, but reaches the freedoms Canadians cherish through “the goods we purchase, the apps we use, the toys our children collect, and even our governments.”

She also said she hopes “Unbroken” helps in shifting perception away from the CCP’s “carefully constructed narrative” and toward a recognition of the regime’s ambitions and threats, noting that ignoring this reality will “turn the reins over to Beijing.”