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SET News Spotlights Transnational Repression

Taiwan’s SET News explores Chinese Communist Party cross-border repression tactics through interviews with activists and former prisoners.
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SET News (三立新聞), a Taiwanese news outlet, has launched a multimedia series examining the Chinese Communist Party’s tactics for cross-border repression. The project features interviews with individuals from the United States, China and Hong Kong, including Mark Clifford (祈福德), a former executive at Next Digital, and Ka-Man Lau (劉珈汶), a Hong Kong activist now based in the United Kingdom. Other participants include Shirley Leung (梁嘉麗) and Ka-Chung Li (李家聰), who co-founded the Taiwan-based news outlet PulseHK (追光者), as well as various Chinese sources who remain anonymous to avoid repercussions.

The reporting explores what interviewees describe as “bloodless torture” methods used against political prisoners in China, as well as intimidation tactics targeting overseas Chinese communities. The series provides direct testimonials from individuals who have either faced or witnessed Beijing’s pressure tactics across multiple regions.

Discussing their motivations for speaking out, one anonymous Chinese individual told SET News, “I feel a responsibility to raise my voice for those in China who do not have a voice.”


Dalia Parete is a researcher for the China Media Project and coordinates data and mapping for Lingua Sinica, CMP’s online resource on Chinese-language media globally. She studies PRC efforts to influence media integrity across local contexts. Having worked at EUISS in Paris and at RUSI and IISS in London, she also specializes in Chinese foreign policy and Taiwan studies. She holds a master’s degree from SOAS (China and International Politics) and LSE (International Relations).

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