Governor Orders Arrest of Chinese Operatives Hunting Down Dissidents in Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order this week for the Department of Public Safety to “target and arrest any criminals executing” Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence operations. The governor cited a CCP “Operation Fox Hunt” aimed at the forcible return of dissidents to China. The governor also issued orders to divest the state from Chinese assets and protect infrastructure.

“The Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a worldwide harassment campaign against Chinese dissidents in attempts to forcibly return them to China,” Governor Abbott said in a written statement this week. “Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies.”

In the executive order, the governor stated that “Operation Fox Hunt” is part of a broader effort by the CCP to return dissidents to China forcibly. “These dissidents are often ‘guilty’ of nothing more than opposing the PRC (Peoples Republic of China), or CCP actions, including exposing corruption,” Abbott wrote.

The FBI revealed it shut down a PRC “police service station” in New York City. These “stations” operate worldwide to carry out this “unlawful campaign of threats, harassment, and harm” against U.S. citizens of Chinese origin,” the governor added, citing the human rights group Safeguard Defenders.

The group claims there are six more “police service stations” operating in the United States, including one in Houston.

The governor ordered the DPS to identify and bring criminal charges against “individuals preying on dissidents of any foreign adversary.”  He also asked the agency to prepare policy for the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature.

In addition to the law enforcement order, Governor Abbott ordered the State of Texas to stop investing in China and sell any Chinese assets as soon as possible.

“All investments of state funds in China must be immediately addressed,” Abbott stated on social media. “We will safeguard our state and our public treasury from threats posed by the CCP.”

“I direct Texas investing entities that you are prohibited from making any new investments of state funds in China,” Abbott said in a written statement. “To the extent you have any current investments in China, you are required to divest at the first available opportunity.”

Finally, Abbott also ordered the State government to “harden” its systems to protect against cyber or other attacks on Texas’s infrastructure.

The governor’s orders include:

• Require any company that submits a bid or proposal to certify that none of its holding companies or subsidiaries is owned by a foreign adversary government.
• Introduce stronger background check procedures on state employees and contractors who have access to critical infrastructure.
• Prohibit state employees from accepting gifts from or work-related travel to foreign adversary countries.
• Prohibit state agencies from contracting with companies owned or controlled by a foreign adversary government.
• Prohibit higher education faculty and employees from participating in any foreign recruitment program by a foreign adversary nation.

“Texas will safeguard our critical infrastructure and information from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party,” the governor concluded.