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Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
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Tom Canetti

In Australia, Pro-Democracy Students Aren’t Safe From China’s Reach

Aaron, an undergraduate student at a Sydney university, wears a Winnie-the-Pooh suit as he protests China’s zero-COVID measures at a rally in Sydney on Dec. 3, 2022. (Photos provided to Tom Canetti for Foreign Policy)

SYDNEY—Laura, a pseudonym for a Chinese undergraduate at an Australian university, says there’s one simple way to gauge whether a fellow student is loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP.

“I usually ‘accidentally’ mention Taiwan as a country,” she said. “If they don’t argue with me, I would push it further to mention brave people such as Hong Kongers. If it works, I would know that the person is one of our fellows.”

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