With Landmark Law, Texas Deals Major Blow to Beijing’s Global Repression Tactics
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Texas’s Anti-Transnational Repression Act has officially become law, representing a significant step in the U.S. response to foreign authoritarian influence, with the most immediate consequences likely to affect the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The CCP’s methods of transnational repression pose a serious threat to American sovereignty. Existing U.S. federal tools, such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), have proven ineffective in countering these tactics, but Texas’s new law helps fill that legal gap.
The law, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on May 24 after passing both chambers of the state Legislature, adds two new criminal offenses to Texas law: transnational repression and the unauthorized enforcement of foreign law.
Transnational repression refers to actions taken by individuals under the direction of foreign governments or terrorist organizations to plan or carry out acts such as assault, harassment, stalking, human trafficking, coercion, or retaliation. These acts specifically target individuals for exercising their First Amendment rights.
CCP Targets Falun Gong
Targets of the CCP’s transnational repression include political dissidents, Tibetans, and Uyghurs, but its most consistent focus has been the Falun Gong community.Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, was introduced to the Chinese public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. The spiritual practice is based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
Since 1999, the group has faced severe persecution from the CCP, including torture, kidnapping, killings, and forced organ harvesting.
The following are examples of how the CCP weaponizes the American legal system to conduct transnational repression against Falun Gong practitioners—a strategy it has pursued for years.
As it turned out, the intermediary he worked through was actually an FBI informant. From the start, Chen had walked into a sting operation. In November 2024, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Texas Fills Legal Gap
Penalties for crimes charged under FARA have historically been relatively light. This limitation highlights a broader problem: existing U.S. laws are poorly equipped to tackle the kind of brazen, shameless tactics the CCP employs. Historically, FARA has been focused less on criminal activity and more on transparency in lobbying and media work. As a result, a foreign agent can often comply with the law simply by registering and adding a disclosure—however small or inconspicuous—that their materials or activities are carried out on behalf of a foreign principal.
The Texas legislation fills not only a gap in state law but also a major void in federal law by treating transnational repression as a standalone criminal offense. Under this new law, individuals in Texas who act on behalf of the CCP to harass Chinese dissidents or Falun Gong practitioners are no longer seen as mere foreign agents—they are treated as active participants in the CCP’s overseas persecution and are subject to serious criminal charges.
CCP’s Transnational Repression a Serious Violation of US Sovereignty
Why has the United States begun to take the Chinese regime’s transnational repression seriously? Because the CCP’s actions have already amounted to a grave violation of American sovereignty. Several notable cases highlight the different forms this repression can take.Operation Fox Hunt
The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted—and subsequently secured convictions against—members of CCP-directed enforcement teams who attempted to coerce individuals to return to China. Carried out by the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security, this operation has seen Chinese agents conduct law enforcement activities on American soil without notifying U.S. authorities—a blatant violation of U.S. sovereignty.Overseas Police Stations
The operators of the CCP’s now-exposed “police station” in New York were the former president and secretary-general of the American Changle Association—a case reported by The Epoch Times in late May. Acting under orders from China’s public security apparatus, these so-called police stations represent yet another unlawful extension of CCP authority in the United States.‘Mass Mobilization’ Tactic
The third tactic involves exporting Mao Zedong-era “mass mobilization” strategies abroad. In a campaign reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, the CCP indoctrinates ordinary Chinese nationals and mobilizes them to act as informal enforcers of Party discipline overseas.Although this form of repression has received relatively little attention in the United States, an article published by the Public Security Studies–Journal of Zhejiang Police College provides a detailed account of how China’s public security organs have applied “mass mobilization” tactics within overseas Chinese communities in countries such as Spain and Italy. In addition, a People’s Court Daily article confirmed that this approach reflects broader CCP policy and is not confined to Europe.
Within the CCP’s political and legal system, responsibilities are divided: the Ministry of Public Security handles domestic matters, while the Ministry of State Security deals with foreign operations. However, the Ministry of Public Security has carried out all the aforementioned types of transnational repression. Why?
The answer traces back to the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. From the earliest stages of that campaign, the regime faced a new challenge: Falun Gong had already gained a wide following overseas.
‘Unrestricted Warfare’
According to internal CCP documents disclosed by the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Religious Freedom, in December 2015, then-chief of the CCP Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Meng Jianzhu, stated at a national meeting of 610 Office directors: “The struggle against Falun Gong is, in fact, a serious political struggle—an ideological contest with anti-China forces in the West.”In CCP parlance, “anti-China forces in the West” is often a coded reference to the U.S. government.
Just as the CCP’s transnational repression apparatus used against Falun Gong can be turned against other groups, the tactics developed to target the practice can also be repurposed to suppress any American organization or individual perceived as a threat.
American policymakers are increasingly aware of this. In addition to the new Texas state law, both the previous and current sessions of Congress have introduced similar legislation. The Countering Transnational Repression Act has yet to be enacted as a law and needs public support.
“They [The CCP] fight on every single inch of the battlefield,” Perry said.
Indeed, for years, the CCP has viewed the persecution of Falun Gong in the United States as part of its broader struggle against the United States—and now, perhaps America is finally beginning to recognize this reality.
