00:00Students at university are often far away from home, yet some are still not far enough.
00:07I met with a student from mainland China.
00:10To protect their identity, we will call them Sara and will use their preferred pronouns, they-them.
00:16Sara is studying media and culture in a graduate programme at the University of Amsterdam
00:21and says they are being monitored by nationalist Chinese students in class.
00:26During certain of my school projects or classes,
00:29when I express certain opinions that Chinese authorities might not like very much,
00:33I would have some issues because certain pro-China students have threatened to report me
00:38or they have lots of issues with me.
00:40I was indeed reported to the Chinese police and my family were called as a consequence.
00:45And the harassment, they say, extends beyond the campus
00:49as Sara also organises peaceful protests for human rights,
00:53including protests calling out China's rights record.
00:57Sara had to install camera in their home because of repeated harassment.
01:01An Amnesty International report released earlier this year said
01:04surveillance and harassment are being used to intimidate Chinese and Hong Kong students
01:09studying in at least eight countries in Western Europe and North America.
01:13Almost one-third of the 32 students that we spoke to had had their family in China
01:18harassed by police or government officials in response to activities
01:23that the students had undertaken abroad.
01:26In some instances, it was clear that these students were under government surveillance
01:30because, for instance, they might speak at a rally in a country in Europe or North America
01:37and within hours their parents in China are contacted by police
01:41who are threatening them to make sure that their child is silent.
01:46Financial pressure is another tactic employed by China in European countries,
01:50especially against those taking part in protests.
01:54Especially for students, this is problematic
01:57because most students get their tuition fees and living costs paid by our families.
02:01Chinese authorities can ask our parents to cut us off financially at any time.
02:05This is one of the biggest stresses that students can have in the Netherlands.
02:11Kate is from Hong Kong and is studying law at the University of Amsterdam.
02:15She wants to be an international human rights lawyer
02:18but also regularly faces harassment and intimidation through threats on her phone.
02:23The climate of fear has taken its toll on Kate's academic plans.
02:28I saw on the news about a student who studies in Japan
02:32being arrested back in Hong Kong for what she had said overseas.
02:36And this made me have to reconsider my thesis topic.
02:40My original topic was about the national security law.
02:44I have to change my thesis topic into something less sensitive
02:48in order to protect myself and my family back in Hong Kong.
02:55The universities themselves are finding the situation hard to deal with.
02:59But in the Netherlands they have started to formulate policies
03:03to counter threats to their international students.
03:08At the moment we are working on a framework of action for them
03:12because we hear that there is influence, not only from the state of China
03:16but also from criminal organizations that extort and threaten them.
03:21But over what happens in their home country we have less influence or no influence.
03:29The governments in China and Hong Kong deny any involvement
03:32in the repression of their students abroad.
03:34But Sara and Kate continue to face threats and surveillance.
03:38They say they are too afraid to return home.
