Study Exposes China’s Surveillance of Uyghurs and Tibetans in Switzerland

A Swiss government study reveals the surveillance of Uyghurs and Tibetans in Switzerland, detailing China’s transnational repression, cyberattacks, intimidation, and threats to exiled families.

By Uyghur Times Staff

Feb 18, 2025

A Swiss government–commissioned study has confirmed widespread transnational repression by Chinese authorities against Uyghur and Tibetan exile communities in Switzerland, documenting systematic surveillance, intimidation through threatening phone calls, coercion to spy on fellow community members, cyberattacks, communications monitoring, and pressure linked to family members in China.

The report, released in February 2025 by the Swiss Federal Council, highlights violations of fundamental rights spanning from 2000 to the present, underscoring the extraterritorial reach of China’s repressive apparatus against ethnic minorities.

The research, titled “The Situation of the Tibetan and Uyghur Communities in Switzerland: Actual and Perceived Exertions of Pressure,” was led by Prof. Ralph Weber and his team at the University of Basel’s Institute for European Global Studies. Mandated by Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice and the State Secretariat for Migration in response to a parliamentary postulate, the study draws on 60 in-depth interviews with diaspora members and extensive documentary analysis.

It documents tactics such as agents—often posing as diplomatic staff—conducting in-person monitoring, photographing and filming politically active individuals, making threatening calls demanding that targets spy within their communities or film protests, and issuing explicit warnings referencing the safety of relatives in China. These practices have fostered deep divisions, self-censorship, and heightened vulnerability among recent arrivals with close family ties back home.

The Swiss government has identified indications of systematic surveillance of politically active Uyghurs and Tibetans, noting that Swiss citizens could also be exposed to cyberattacks and communications monitoring. Prof. Weber’s findings indicate that “dozens of agents of the Chinese security services” operate in Switzerland.

These efforts align with broader patterns of China’s transnational repression, including digital tactics such as hacking and censorship targeting exiled Uyghur activists. In a related development reported by Citizen Lab in April 2025, senior members of the World Uyghur Congress were targeted in a spearphishing campaign using Windows spyware disguised as a legitimate Uyghur-language text editor tool (UyghurEditPP), enabling remote surveillance, system profiling, and potential plugin downloads—demonstrating how China has targeted Uyghur activists through sophisticated cyber means to silence dissent abroad.

The Swiss government has formally condemned these violations and announced initial measures, including enhanced screening of interpreters in asylum procedures to prevent infiltration or bias. However, advocacy groups argue these steps are insufficient. The Society for Threatened Peoples (now Voices) has called for comprehensive legislation to criminalize transnational repression and provide stronger protections.

Zumretay Arkin, Vice-President of the World Uyghur Congress, emphasized the pervasive impact:

“Practically every Uyghur in exile has experienced some kind of repression at the hands of the Chinese government,” ranging from harassing phone calls and surveillance to threats, travel restrictions, and deportation attempts.

The report’s release comes as Switzerland marks 75 years of diplomatic relations with China and continues negotiations to update their bilateral free trade agreement. Human rights advocates urge Swiss authorities to prioritize safeguards for vulnerable diaspora communities and incorporate robust human rights conditions into these economic discussions, ensuring that trade relations do not come at the expense of fundamental freedoms.

China has rejected the findings, dismissing the report as based on “misleading information” and denying involvement in such activities.