Dr. Daniel Twining Addresses China’s Global Repression

Washington, DC – President of the International Republican Institute (IRI) Dr. Daniel Twining provided opening remarks at “Sanctioned Voices: Spotlighting China’s Global Repression,” an event co-hosted by IRI, the Hudson Institute’s China Center, and the National Security Institute.

After China Center Director Miles Yu welcomed the audience, Dr. Twining kicked off the event by addressing the serious nature of Beijing’s international reach.

“China is engaged in an extraordinarily global and sophisticated campaign of transnational repression,” said Twining. “The objective is…to not simply preserve regime security at home, in fact, it’s to silence, intimidate, and censor voices abroad who do not want to live in a world governed by the values of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party.”

While highlighting the use of sanctions by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to target organizations and individuals that support democracy in China, Twining stated that, “China, under Xi Jinping, made a decision to decouple from the United States some time ago. Sanctioning prominent individuals, including in leadership positions in our government is part of that,” said Twining. “I think that’s a strategic mistake for China.”

Dr. Twining and IRI Board Members Senator Tom Cotton and Secretary of State-designee Senator Marco Rubio have been sanctioned by the CCP. Adam King, IRI’s Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, has also been sanctioned.

In pre-recorded remarks, Joseph Wu, Secretary General of Taiwan’s National Security Council, said, “The PRC has a long history of attempting to silence voices of critics and opposition, both domestic and abroad. In recent years, it has even intensified its global repression, targeting Uyghurs, Tibetans, members of other ethnic and religious minority groups, Hong Kongers, human rights activists, and journalists living abroad.”