Italian investigators team up on the cross-border surveillance threat case of "Teacher Li is not your teacher"

The core figure in the case is Li Ying, a blogger with the online name "Teacher Li is not your teacher" and an artist who has lived in Italy since 2015. His X platform account "Teacher Li is not your teacher" @whyyoutouzhele has 2.2 million fans. This account attracted much attention for forwarding a large number of real-time pictures, texts and videos of protests from the Chinese people during the "White Paper Movement" that broke out in China at the end of 2022 against the "clearance policy." Since then, the account has also frequently posted videos, photos and text narratives sent to him by people in China, mostly involving protests and other politically sensitive events that are strictly controlled or not reported at all in China.

According to case files seen by Reuters, Milan prosecutors notified 10 suspects (including eight Chinese citizens and two Italian citizens) on October 23 that the investigation had ended and gave them a final opportunity to respond before possible trial proceedings. The documents shed light on what Italian prosecutors called a "coordinated campaign of surveillance and intimidation targeting critics of the Chinese government abroad."

Li Ying welcomed the investigation. He said in a statement to Reuters that he, his family and followers had suffered "constant harassment and threats" for years because of his commitment to sharing "real stories" about ordinary people in China. "So I'm pleased to see progress on this case and very grateful to the investigators."

In October 2024, in Turin, Italy, Li Ying looked through the peephole on her door and photographed a man spray-painting the word "stupro" (Italian, meaning "rape") on the wall next to his residence. Prosecutors subsequently launched an investigation.

Investigators said they discovered a systematic surveillance operation: the suspects repeatedly visited the location where Li Ying was thought to live, took photos of the entrance, monitored related buildings at nearby cafes, rummaged through trash cans, solicited information from residents, and tracked Li Ying's whereabouts.

Prosecutors said one of the suspects collected more than 4,000 photos and 35 videos during an undercover surveillance operation. The case file also shows that Li Ying received death threats through social media and emails, including messages such as "I will chop off your head" and "We will punish you", along with pictures of assault rifles, pistols and bayonets.

The two leading suspects are accused of acting on behalf of the Chinese police while maintaining contact with Chinese diplomats and members of the United Front Work Department. The pair, along with two others, are accused of being part of a criminal gang aimed at "obstructing Chinese dissidents from exercising their right to freedom of expression" - a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison under Italian law.

The case file shows that one of the four suspected organizers recruited a Chinese citizen to track Li Ying, while the other suspect offered 100 euros a day to hire someone to help locate Li Ying's whereabouts. Li Ying's personal information was posted online, and her relatives and friends in China were also put under pressure. Li Ying deeply felt that her safety was threatened, and was forced to constantly change her residence, moving between Milan and Turin, trying to avoid tracking.

On October 31, Li Ying attended the "Don't Understand Festival" hosted by New York Times reporter Yuan Li in Tokyo, Japan. This was his first public appearance. In the interview, he talked about the reasons why he chose to speak out, his experience of fleeing from cross-border repression, and the various aspects of Chinese society he had glimpsed through operating his account.

The cross-border suppression of "Teacher Li is not your teacher" reflects Italy's increasing scrutiny of "China's surveillance and pressure on its critics." Italian police said in February that cyberattacks originating from China had targeted the Italian Interior Ministry in an effort to search for Chinese dissidents and identify police officers responsible for investigating Chinese criminal gangs. China's Foreign Ministry responded at the time that Beijing firmly opposed hacking attacks and refuted "false information" about the matter.

A month later, Italian media reported that Rome had ordered the expulsion of eight Chinese citizens who were suspected of being ordered by the Chinese government to conduct surveillance on dissidents. Italy's interior ministry declined to comment at the time.