U.S. Think Tank Expert: Participants in Transnational Repression Must Be Prosecuted and Sanctioned

Senior Fellow Olivia Enos of the Hudson Institute, a renowned think tank in Washington, D.C. (Li Chen/The Dajiyuan)

[People News] Olivia Enos, a senior fellow at the well-known Washington think tank Hudson Institute, told The Dajiyuan that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational repression constitutes various crimes, and those involved must be prosecuted and sanctioned.

The U.S. Must Take Transnational Repression Seriously: Prosecute and Sanction CCP Participants

According to The Dajiyuan reporter Li Chen in Washington, D.C., Enos said, “The U.S. Congress and the administration need to take the issue of countering transnational repression very seriously.”

Since 2024, the CCP has sharply escalated its transnational repression against groups such as Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, as of September 25, 2025, the Center had recorded at least 184 death threats targeting Falun Gong practitioners and their supporters—seven of which occurred in September alone.

Enos said, “Transnational repression, in essence, constitutes various crimes. We need to recognize this and find ways to prosecute those individuals who engage in transnational repression.”

“Perhaps we can sanction those CCP entities or individuals who carry out transnational repression—whether against Falun Gong, Tibetans, or other groups.”

Enos noted that Hong Kong groups have also been victims of CCP transnational repression.

She said, “We should also work with friends and allies who are experiencing the same thing. For example, Hongkongers. In the U.K., the U.S., and Australia, Hongkongers have been placed under bounty by the CCP.”

“Like my friend Francis Hui—she has asylum in the U.S. and should be able to enjoy legal protection just like all American citizens.”

The U.S. Can Take Action Now to Stop It

Enos stated that the U.S. executive branch “absolutely can” take certain actions now to stop the CCP’s transnational repression.

“We need to think more deeply about this issue and make better use of our existing legal infrastructure.”

Under Title 18, Section 951 of the U.S. Code, the “Agents of Foreign Governments” law stipulates that anyone acting as an agent of a foreign government within the U.S. without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General is committing a crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines.

This law has been used by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute several cases of the CCP’s “Operation Fox Hunt”—its transnational repression campaign.

In December 2015, the U.S. passed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which authorizes the U.S. government to impose sanctions—such as visa bans and asset freezes—on human rights violators and foreign corrupt actors. The law can also be applied to sanction CCP officials behind transnational repression.

Enos added, “I know the FBI frequently investigates such crimes. But we need to establish systems that allow law enforcement agencies to truly do everything they can to address the CCP’s long-arm influence reaching into the U.S.”

CCP Transnational Repression Cases Thwarted in the U.S.

In recent years, the DOJ and the FBI have foiled several CCP plots of transnational repression against Falun Gong. For example:

Chinese Americans John Chen (Chen Jun) and Lin Feng were arrested by the FBI in 2023. Acting on orders from the CCP, they participated overseas in a campaign to “overthrow Falun Gong.”

According to the indictment, between January and May 2023, Chen and his bodyguard Lin acted in the U.S. under the direction of the CCP government to further its plans to harass and suppress Falun Gong practitioners. They manipulated the IRS whistleblower program in an attempt to revoke Shen Yun Performing Arts’ tax-exempt status.

Founded in New York in 2006, Shen Yun Performing Arts aims to revive traditional Chinese culture and “present China before communism.” With over one million live audience members worldwide each year, Shen Yun has become a major target of CCP transnational repression.

In November 2024, Chen was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to 20 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In September 2024, Lin was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Levi Browde, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, told The Dajiyuan that the caught CCP agents were only “the tip of the iceberg.”

On April 17, 2023, the FBI arrested two CCP agents in New York—Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping—accused of illegally acting as agents of the CCP government. Both were staff members of an overseas “CCP police station” and participated in the persecution of Falun Gong abroad.

Then-U.S. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted on April 17, 2023, that the Lu and Chen case was only “the tip of the iceberg.”

In January 2024, a report by the Falun Dafa Information Center revealed that CCP agents had launched over 130 sabotage incidents against Shen Yun in 38 countries, including pressuring local elected officials, threatening theater managers, and resorting to violence, vandalism, and death threats. Many of these incidents occurred in the U.S.

The U.S. Must Correct the CCP’s Weaponization of the American Legal System

Earlier, prominent legal scholar and former Peking University law professor Yuan Hongbing told The Dajiyuan that Xi Jinping ordered an escalation of the transnational persecution of Falun Gong in 2022, primarily through “public opinion warfare” and “lawfare.”

The Falun Dafa Information Center has pointed out that Shen Yun Performing Arts has become one of the main targets of the CCP’s lawfare. The Center’s spokesperson Zhang Erping emphasized at an event on Capitol Hill in July that the CCP’s actions already amount to transnational terrorism.

In 2023, New Yorker Alex Scilla filed a baseless environmental lawsuit against Dragon Springs (the headquarters of Shen Yun) and surveilled Falun Gong practitioners there. A federal judge in New York dismissed his lawsuit, finding his claims meritless and barring him from filing further appeals.

Before moving to New York, Scilla lived in Tianjin, China, for 15 years.

Six years ago, Scilla founded the so-called Central New York Coalition for Environmental and Economic Balance about 40 miles from Dragon Springs, with the primary goal of harassing Shen Yun’s headquarters through lawsuits—he filed four separate suits against Dragon Springs.

One month after the coalition’s founding, Scilla established a new company in China.

In November 2024, a former Shen Yun performer filed a lawsuit against Shen Yun Performing Arts and hired a major U.S. law firm. Before filing the case, she and her husband traveled to Beijing Dance Academy and Shanghai in mainland China. Afterward, her attitude reversed completely.

Enos stated that the CCP’s use and weaponization of the American judicial and legal systems to attack Falun Gong and Shen Yun must be rectified.

She said, “We need a legal system that can better address and correct these problems. We must ensure that those facing such challenges can obtain legal protection.”

Enos noted that the lawsuits targeting Shen Yun and Falun Gong are similar to those launched against other groups or individuals.

She said, “They appear to share similarities. We must ensure that every person facing persecution by the CCP is considered, regardless of their religion, culture, or other background—because in the U.S., we must ensure that fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion, are absolutely protected.” △