After her arrest in Hong Kong in 2020, “Democratic Goddess” Zhou Yiwei announced her intention to seek asylum in Canada. Why didn’t she choose Japan, where she has given interviews to the media in Japanese and says she loves Japanese music and anime? Enkaku Katsumaru, a former public security official and security consultant, explained to us the current situation in Japan as a place of asylum. In addition, Ms. Shuwa, who is now in Canada, gave us advice on how to protect oneself from the Chinese Communist Party. （Security Consultant Enkaku Katsumaru explains why Mr. Zhouqiang did not defect to his beloved Japan. I will explain whether Canada is a suitable place for asylum. What I can say for sure is that Canada would be more suitable for asylum than Japan. Japan is not a very suitable country for asylum. First, let me explain why you should not seek asylum in Japan. The most important reason is that Japan is a country that does not actively accept asylum seekers. People who defect are people who have been forced to leave their original country of residence for whatever reason, so there is a diplomatic risk on the part of those who accept them. In the case of Mr. Zhou Yiwei, moreover, since he will be dealing with China, Japan will be weak-minded, not wanting to create friction. This is true from past cases. If you are going to immigrate, but if you are going to defect, there is a possibility that you will not be accepted in the first place. Also, in terms of facilities, Japan cannot offer enough like Canada. Normally, when accepting asylum seekers, safe houses, which are secure housing and security, must be provided. Japan, which has not actively accepted asylum seekers in the past, has little know-how or past experience in providing such facilities and security. Even if Japan were to accept Mr. Shuwa, the guarantee of safety would be lower than in Canada. Canada has hosted many asylum seekers in the past, so it can be said that Canada is superior to Japan in terms of facilities and security. It is very likely that safe houses will be provided to Mr. Shuwa in the future. The advantages of Canada compared to Japan have been explained. Then, it is not the case that Canada is the safest country. For example, the U.S., our neighbor, has the CIA and FBI, so if the goal is to protect Mr. Zhou Yiwa from the Chinese Communist Party, the U.S. is even better. So why not choose the U.S.? I suspect that Canada would have been easier to obtain nationality and visas. Also, Canada is one of the countries often used for nationality laundering. Nationality laundering means to acquire Canadian citizenship first when acquiring American citizenship, etc., and it is a method often used by Chinese spy collaborators. Therefore, although there are safer countries, Canada is an excellent first country to defect to, and at least it is easier to ensure your safety than coming to Japan. The way to escape the Chinese government is to “not run away”? There are many people in Canada who are under the sway of the Chinese Communist Party. It is possible that some harm may be done to Ms. Zhou Ying, and in some cases, undue pressure may be applied to her. If I were to give her advice on how to protect herself, I would suggest that she create someone who will keep track of her timetable of activities. Perhaps the Canadian government will buy it, though. Furthermore, it is preferable to keep your activities open rather than completely hidden. This is because by hiding your appearance, you could be harmed in the shadows. Using news agencies and media outlets is one way, but it is better to continue to communicate your activities through more convenient means, such as social networking and personal media. This will speed up the speed at which anomalies become public knowledge and reduce the possibility of serious harm being done. In the past, an Astellas employee was taken into custody by Chinese police, and even in such a case, it is better to immediately pass the information on to the media without hesitation. This is because the Chinese government is very concerned about appearances, and by making it public that they have taken a foreigner into custody, they will not be able to keep him out of the dark. Therefore, I would like Mr. Zhou Yiwei to be aware of the fact that he must always keep himself in the public eye.
● Machinika and dry cleaners too? Chinese Intelligence Network in Japan There are many Chinese spies in Canada, where Mr. Zhou Yiwei defected, and in Japan, where we live. China recruits foreign students and business people in various countries as collaborators later. The Chinese embassies in each country have a huge database of Chinese nationals in that country, from which they identify suitable collaborators. Then, professional spies called spymasters, of which there are said to be about 10 in Chinese embassies in Japan, use recruiters to scout out suitable persons as collaborators. Since ordinary people who are not spies are turned into collaborators in espionage activities, it is difficult for the local authorities to grasp all of China’s intelligence network. Furthermore, there is a kind of snitching system, whereby spy collaborators receive rewards according to the quality of their information. In fact, during my public security period, I once found out that machinaka and dry cleaning stores served as such contact points. According to Terumasa Nakanishi, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, there were tens of thousands of Chinese spies and their collaborators in Australia. If we simply consider the population ratio alone, there could be five times that many in Japan. If the size of Australia is 50,000, it is not surprising that there are 250,000 Chinese spies and their associates. In addition to the cast-net type of intelligence that these townships, China, and other countries capture information, in addition, China has its own methods of pinpointing and pinpointing intelligence. Recently, there was an incident in which a Chinese researcher belonging to the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), a research institute, leaked his research data to a Chinese company. In such cases, we sometimes target a person from our huge database of Chinese nationals in Japan, such as “this person who has been working for the company for a long time seems to be a good candidate,” and ask him to provide us with information. Chinese spy collaborators in various countries target not only trade secrets and information on Chinese nationals. In fact, Japanese nationals may also be targeted. For example, it has become a topic of conversation that there was an “overseas branch office” in Akihabara, which is considered to be an agency of the Chinese police. The top priority target of surveillance is the Chinese, but even Japanese are being monitored, including “Falun Gong followers,” who are said to be China’s Aum Shinrikyo, and Japanese who are supporting Chinese opponents of the Uyghur Uprising. Thus, Chinese spies and their collaborators are lurking in your sphere of life. Although ordinary people are not directly harmed, their activities cause great loss to Japan. In addition, it is clear that the scrutiny becomes even more severe when one is in a special position such as Mr. Zhou Ting. In fact, a top official of the Hong Kong government has threatened that unless she turns herself in, she will be tracked for the rest of her life. The world media must continue to pay attention to her communications. This will help protect her.
Enkaku Katsumaru
