Overseas Returnees Face Heightened Scrutiny in China Amid Beijings Anti-Espionage Drive

China’s grassroots surveillance network is expanding its focus to a new group: people who have returned from overseas.In Shenzhen and other parts of the country, overseas students, emigrants, and others who have resettled in China are increasingly being treated as individuals requiring “special attention,” according to residents and people familiar with the system who used only their surnames out of fear of reprisal.Some, they said, are even being labeled by local officials as potential “foreign forces,” with their speech, social contacts, and daily activities placed under closer watch.The shift comes as Beijing intensifies its anti-espionage campaign, accompanied by growing warnings about “hostile foreign forces.” At the community level, the effort is being carried out through China’s grid-style social management system—a neighborhood-based surveillance network in which local workers monitor residents, gather information, resolve disputes, and report anything deemed politically or socially risky.Yang, who is familiar with the grid-management system in Shenzhen’s Longgang District, told The Epoch Times that subdistrict offices have instructed grid workers to monitor residents who have returned from abroad.Grid workers are assigned to small geographic areas. They conduct home visits, verify household information, track “key individuals,” and relay concerns to local authorities.“There’s a strong atmosphere of catching spies right now. Our community is compiling statistics on people who’ve come back from overseas,” Yang said. “We’re told to pay attention to what they say—whether they claim China is inferior to foreign countries, promote better welfare or higher earnings abroad, and to keep an eye on families with overseas backgrounds.”Yang said workers have also been asked to document returnees’ daily activities, including whom they meet and what they discuss. In some communities, he added, returnees are being described as “foreign forces.”“They say it’s about catching spies, but in reality it encourages residents to report people who complain or criticize the system,” Yang said. “They also claim that many people ‘lying flat’ are influenced by foreign forces.”The phrase “lying flat” refers to a recent social trend in China, especially among young people, of adopting a passive mindset and giving up on life’s usual goals—career success, buying a home, marriage, children, or social status—because they feel the system is too exhausting, unfair, or hopeless.In recent years, authorities and state media have increasingly framed certain forms of public disengagement or dissatisfaction as being shaped by hostile foreign forces.A veteran Chinese media professional identified as Wu said authorities are now treating some returnees—especially those with media backgrounds—as politically suspicious.“In the past, the government actively attracted overseas returnees, and international experience was seen as a talent advantage,” Wu told The Epoch Times. “Now it’s being treated as a liability under the label of ‘foreign forces.’ Combined with recent state security narratives portraying ‘lying flat’ as influenced by foreign forces, this trend is reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.”Scrutiny Extends to Families and Faith GroupsThe scrutiny is extending to returnees’ families.Chen, a retiree in Guangzhou’s Baiyun District, said grid workers in his community have recently become more active, frequently contacting residents through WeChat.“They asked whether my son contacts me regularly. I said we talk a few times a month,” Chen told The Epoch Times. “Then they asked what job he does in the United States—just a barrage of questions. It felt like I was being investigated. These people don’t seem to do proper work, just prying into others’ private matters.”Xu, a Christian from Weifang in Shandong Province, said her community has intensified what officials call a “two-way coordination” mechanism at the grassroots level, with repeated emphasis on preventing “foreign infiltration.”“I told the state security officers: you keep talking about ‘foreign forces,’ but when the Communist Party started its revolution and promoted Marxism and Leninism, weren’t those also ‘foreign forces?’” Xu said. “The police had no answer. Instead, they told me to attend state-sanctioned Three-Self churches and not participate in house church gatherings.”China’s revised Anti-Espionage Law, which took effect in July 2023, broadened the scope of activities that can be classified as espionage-related. Since then, local governments have rolled out propaganda and inspection campaigns, while community-level grid systems have become more deeply involved in enforcement.State security agencies have also issued articles and promotional materials warning against “hostile forces,” reinforcing public suspicion toward overseas ties and Western influence.A scholar from Sichuan surnamed Hu said that in the absence of clearly defined espionage cases, authorities appear to be expanding the scope of scrutiny to include people with overseas backgrounds.“This approach transforms what was once part of normal talent mobility into a monitored population,” Hu told The Epoch Times. “Returnees now face heightened sensitivity in employment, social interactions, and public participation. This reflects a clear shift toward rule by discretion rather than rule of law.”Wang Yibo contributed to the report.