Greg Abbott is pushing back against what his office describes as "coordinated harassment and coercion by the People's Republic of China." He has signed an executive order aimed at protecting Texans from Chinese operations designed to return dissidents to China.
In a press release, Abbott referenced initiatives like "Operation Fox Hunt," where CCP operatives forcibly return dissidents, who are often legal residents or even citizens of Texas, back to China, where they face punishment for speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Abbott stated, “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."
According to the new executive order, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will begin pursuing the following actions:
- Identify and charge individuals suspected of crimes relating to exploiting dissidents on behalf of any foreign government.
- Partner with local and federal law enforcement through the Texas Fusion Center to assess the incidents where foreign governments extend their reach beyond their borders to intimidate Texans.
- Discover and document individuals suspected of planning, attempting, or carrying out acts of repression, and by January 15, 2025, provide policy recommendations on how to counter such threats and develop training programs that can be used to identify and report such illicit activity to DPS.
- Introduce a hotline and update the iWatch Texas Community Reporting System to allow Texans to directly report any sort of suspected acts of oppression or coercion by PRC or CCP actors, or other foreign adversaries against Texans. Texans can report suspicious activity at iwatchtx.org, through the iWatchTexas mobile app, or by calling 844-643-2251. Reporting through any of these channels can be anonymous.
You can read the full executive order here.