Texas Governor Greg Abbott has a lot on his plate- being the governor of the U.S. state that had 59% of America’s undocumented immigrants come through its borders in 2023 undoubtedly creates tensions with foreign countries like Mexico and El Salvador. But in the past weeks, he’s taken on a new international enemy: China. In just a couple of days, Abbott has signed orders to protect Texas from Chinese Communist Party interference and to ensure the well-being of his state’s vast Chinese-American population.

China is no stranger to accusations of interference in the United States, even in this year’s presidential election. Research firm Graphika found that Spamouflage, a Chinese-state-run influence operation that “employs inauthentic accounts,” attempted to utilize such accounts to “promote pro-China and anti-Western narratives” and to pose as supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.

Three iterations of a Spamoflauge-run X (Twitter) account, which changed its username three times to fuel pro-Trump and pro-MAGA content. Source: Graphika

However, on a drastically more consequential level, Operation Fox Hunt, a Chinese government covert global operation, has become further prevalent in foreign Western countries, including the United States. The operation, whose supposed goal is anti-corruption under Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping, has been accused by many of targeting Chinese nationals who are seen as dissidents who live outside of China. 

In a July 2020 speech at the Hudson Institute in New York, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray declared that “hundreds of the Fox Hunt victims that they target lie right here in the United States,” and that “China’s tactics to [force them to return to China] are shocking.” He asserted that when the Chinese government could not locate a Fox Hunt target, they would send a representative to visit the target’s family in the United States and pass along a message to the dissident that they had one of two choices: return to China immediately or commit suicide.

In July 2022, a federal grand jury indicted a Chinese national named Sun Hoi Ying for acting as an agent of the Chinese government. Ying, who at the time ironically was a United States Department of Homeland Security agent, was accused of “silenc[ing], harass[ing] and spy[ing] on US-based residents for exercising their freedom of speech.” Furthermore, in June 2023, two Chinese citizens and an American private investigator were convicted of stalking and conspiracy related to a sub-operation targeting a former Chinese official in New Jersey. There’s no doubt that this operation has instilled fear in many Chinese-Americans, especially those who have spoken against the current Chinese government. 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has seemingly had enough of the infiltration and influence. On November 18, 2024, he issued an executive order across the state to protect Texans from the Chinese state operation. Abbott declared that “Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals who legally call Texas home.” He immediately ordered the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) to arrest and charge individuals suspected of crimes relating to exploiting dissidents on behalf of a foreign country. 

On top of that, Abbott also vowed to partner with local and federal law enforcement through the Texas Fusion Center to assess incidents where foreign governments reach beyond their borders to influence Texans and to introduce a hotline and reporting system for Texans to report any suspected acts of coercion or intimidation by China. This initial executive order seemed to be the kickstarter of a series of actions made by Abbott to crackdown on Chinese involvement in Texan affairs.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has lately cracked down on Chinese influence in Texas, speaking at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Source: Getty Images/Alex Wong

The next day, on the 19th, Abbott issued another executive order to “harden state systems and safeguard critical infrastructure” from China’s malicious espionage operations. In this order, Governor Abbott noted that “the Chinese government has actively targeted local and state officials [in Texas]” and that the order “is critical to protect Texans from hostile foreign actors.” 

With the direction of Abbott, all state agencies and institutions of higher education (colleges, universities, i.e.) must work with companies that are not subsidiaries or holding companies owned by foreign adversary governments and introduce more vigorous background checks on employees and contractors. Moreover, Texas state agencies are prohibited from contracting with companies owned by foreign enemies, and their employees are banned from accepting gifts and traveling to foreign adversaries. Meanwhile, Texan higher education faculty are barred from participating in foreign recruitment programs hosted by such countries. 

On November 21st, Abbott again took another step in safeguarding Texas by sending a letter to Texas state agencies directing them to divest from risky investments rooted in China. This effort to reduce and eliminate investments in China is fueled by what Abbott characterizes as “belligerent actions across the Southeastern Pacific region and the world” by China, which leads to “increased instability and financial risk” in the state. In the letter, Abbott also referenced some of his past actions regarding Chinese divestment, including in 2023, when he, along with three other Governors, encouraged Vanguard to create new, emerging market funds isolated from the risk of the Chinese Communist Party.

In reaction to Governor Abbott’s actions, China Daily, an English-language newspaper owned and operated by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article claiming that Abbott’s orders “brought a sense of anxiety and uncertainty to many Chinese Americans.” The article also purports that a Houston-based law firm, Mosaic Paradigm Law Group, analyzed Abbott’s orders and deemed them “full of flaws and short-sighted.” 

Texas State Representative Gene Wu had a different perspective on Abbott’s moves. Wu, a Democrat, was born in Guangzhou, China, and has served as Texas 137th’s District Rep. since 2013. He had previously criticized Abbott and fellow Texas Republicans last year when they pushed legislation banning citizens of countries including China from buying land in Texas. This time around, however, Wu released a statement where he praised Abbott’s “newfound commitment to protecting the Civil Rights of Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants and dissidents” in Texas, also noting that “anyone who seek[s] to take away [the core promises of the American Dream] stand against Texas values.” 

Texas State Representative Gene Wu, who was praiseful of Governor Greg Abbott’s executive orders protecting Chinese-Americans from Operation Fox Hunt. Source: Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library/Jay Godwin

Greg Abbott has always been an influential yet controversial figure in United States politics. His beliefs and actions on other topics, such as illegal immigration and same-sex marriage, have been widely scrutinized and criticized. Yet, in a country where its citizens and the government have become increasingly wary of the threats of foreign interference, Abbott has made it clear that he will not stand for intimidation and harassment of his state’s people.