New Zealand professor Anne-Marie Brady who wrote about China’s foreign influence seeks government protection after year-long harassment campaign

More than 150 global China experts have added their voices to demands that the New Zealand government protect Professor Anne-Marie Brady, a China scholar who has been the victim of a year-long harassment campaign.

Brady says she became a target after the release of a paper on Chinese foreign influence in 2017 and has asked the New Zealand government for extra security for herself and her family.

After the government failed to respond, academics, human rights activists and journalists within New Zealand last week called on the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to step in and provide security for Brady. Now 150 China experts from around the world have signed an open letter calling for action.

The letter states that under President Xi Jinping’s rule domestic repression in China has increased, “as illustrated by the fate of hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists rounded up in 2015”, as well as the “re-education” camps in Xinjiang.

At the same time, the Chinese government has targeted critics overseas, the letter states.

“Another form of this escalation are the unprecedented attacks on foreign scholars and researchers of contemporary China, be it in the form of Cultural Revolution-style in-class harassment for their views and opinions, denial of visas, threatened or actual libel suits or, in some cases, detentions during research visits in mainland China,” it says.