Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, April, 17: Chinese state-owned digital forensics and cybersecurity firm Meiya Pico will provide advanced cyber operations training and digital forensic laboratory facilities to the Tibet Police College in Lhasa, according to a new report released on Wednesday by Tibetan human rights monitoring and research agencies, Tibet Watch and Turquoise Roof.
The report, titled “A Long Shadow: The Expansion and Export of China’s Digital Repression Model in Tibet”, details how this development represents a significant escalation in China’s surveillance infrastructure within Tibet, a country that has been under intense security monitoring since China invaded Tibet in 1950 and occupied completely by 1959.
Meiya Pico, which was placed on a U.S. entity list in 2019 for its alleged role in human rights abuses against Uyghurs in East Turkestan, has become a central component of China’s digital surveillance apparatus over the past decade. The company has developed various surveillance technologies, including covert phone spyware applications and forensic hacking devices for police use.
Security analysts cited in the report suggest that Lhasa, one of Tibet’s most sacred pilgrimage destinations, is increasingly serving as a testing ground for surveillance technologies that could potentially be deployed globally.
The report highlights concerns about the dual role played by Meiya Pico enabling domestic surveillance in China’s frontier regions while simultaneously exporting digital repression technology abroad. This raises further concerns about transnational repression efforts targeting Tibetan communities worldwide.
According to the report, the implementation of these digital forensics technologies may have serious implications for the psychological well-being and community cohesion of Tibetans both within Tibet and in exile. The report draws parallels between tactics used against Tibetans and those employed against other diaspora communities.
The release of the report comes amid mounting international attention on China’s surveillance practices. Just last week, global cybersecurity agencies issued a joint advisory warning of sophisticated spyware operations linked to Beijing targeting communities considered threats by the Chinese Communist Party.
The advisory released on April 9 identified two spyware tools, Badbazaar and Moonshine, as being used to infiltrate mobile devices of individuals connected to Tibet, East Turkestan, Taiwan, and the Falun Gong movement. The spyware can collect real-time GPS data, record audio, access cameras, and extract private messages and photos, all without the user’s knowledge.
