(By Siyu Guo, Dallas) In the digital age, access to free information is the lifeblood of democracy. Yet, the Chinese Communist Party’s “Great Firewall” imposes stringent censorship and authoritarian control, depriving millions of Chinese citizens of their rights to free speech and access to information. For 30-year-old IT developer and entrepreneur Weijie Xiao, this invisible barrier represents not only a technical challenge but also a moral battle for justice. He developed an open-source circumvention tool, V2 Board, to provide Chinese citizens—blinded by state censorship—access to the unfiltered internet. This endeavor led to his persecution, detention, and abuse by the Chinese government, ultimately forcing him to flee to the United States. In an exclusive phone interview with The <New Liberty News>, Mr. Xiao shared his journey, exposing the CCP’s systematic crackdown on circumvention technology developers and its comprehensive suppression of press and speech freedoms.
Weijie Xiao’s career began in China’s tech industry, where he developed software for government enterprises and universities, focusing on efficiency tools and development platforms while running a small company. As a long-time user of virtual private networks (VPNs) to access uncensored information, he was acutely aware of the Great Firewall’s suffocating restrictions on ordinary citizens. Many lacked the technical knowledge or resources to bypass this barrier.
Reporter: What motivated you to develop and open-source a circumvention system?
Mr. Xiao: “In China, I relied on VPNs to access the outside world, but I realized too few people could use these tools due to their complexity. I wanted to create user-friendly circumvention software so ordinary people could easily access the truth. Open-sourcing the code meant anyone could contribute, collectively advancing free speech.”
Mr. Xiao’s vision was to open a window for China’s censored masses. In 2020, while studying in Japan, he launched the software, leveraging technology to challenge the CCP’s information blackout. However, his idealism made him a target of the regime.
The Chinese Communist Party’s Iron-Fisted Pursuit
Mr. Xiao’s software gained traction during the pandemic, with growing numbers of users employing it to build circumvention tools and share them with friends and family. Its influence surged, but this success drew the attention of the Chinese authorities.
Reporter: How did the Chinese police identify you and your project?
Mr. Xiao: “I launched the software in Japan in 2020, and the authorities quickly began monitoring it. By late 2020, I was stranded in China due to pandemic lockdowns, unable to return to Japan. By 2021-2022, the software’s user base exploded, and the police had me in their sights. A colleague, using the pseudonym Meng Feizhou, was arrested for developing similar VPN software, and the authorities traced their way to me.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s pursuit of circumvention technology developers is systematic and highly efficient. According to Freedom House’s 2023 report, China ranks last in internet freedom among 65 countries. The regime employs big data analytics, network traffic monitoring, and artificial intelligence to precisely track circumvention activities. Since 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has enacted regulations banning unlicensed VPN services and requiring domestic companies to block unregistered VPNs. Police also rely on informants and cross-provincial collaboration to target developers, operators, and technical support personnel.
Mr. Xiao revealed that the Public Security Bureau in Xiajin County, Shandong Province, established a dedicated unit to handle internet and VPN cases, conducting so-called “deep-sea fishing” operations. A 2023 Voice of America report detailed the case of Gan Wenwei, a VPN practitioner who fled to the Netherlands to escape pursuit by Xiajin police. Gan disclosed that Xiajin County, facing fiscal constraints, generates revenue by arresting circumvention practitioners nationwide and imposing hefty fines. In the first three quarters of 2023, Xiajin’s fiscal revenue ranked last among the 11 counties and districts in Dezhou City, Shandong, underscoring its economic struggles. This “fines-for-governance” model not only stifles technological innovation but also serves as a tool for the regime’s stability maintenance. The regime also manipulates public opinion through “internet trolls” and “50-cent party” commentators to drown out dissenting voices. Mr. Xiao lamented, “Under the Chinese Communist Party’s rule, press freedom is a fantasy, and free speech is an illusion. The Great Firewall is not just a technological barrier—it’s a prison for thought.”
A Sudden Arrest
On August 4, 2022, Mr. Xiao’s life was shattered by a meticulously planned raid. That morning, he had just moved into a newly renovated apartment, filled with anticipation for a fresh start, unaware that it would mark the beginning of a nightmare. At 5 a.m., a knock on the door disrupted the silence, with the caller falsely claiming to be a downstairs neighbor complaining about a leak. Unprepared, he opened the door and was immediately overwhelmed by an unstoppable force.
Reporter: How were you detained by the police? Did you receive any prior warnings?
Mr. Xiao: “There were no warnings. At 5 a.m., someone knocked, claiming a leak. I opened the door, and six officers stormed in like predators, pinning me to the ground. They flashed their badges so quickly I couldn’t read them, then handcuffed me. Three were from Xiajin, Shandong, and three from Fuzhou, Fujian, working in seamless coordination, as if they’d rehearsed it countless times.”
He was forcibly taken to a police station, where the next 15 hours became the longest ordeal of his life. In the interrogation room, officers used verbal intimidation, insults, and physical violence, including punches and kicks, from 7 p.m. that evening until 10 a.m. the following day, without offering a drop of water or a bite of food. The interrogation centered on his circumvention tool, with police repeatedly demanding to know if he profited from it, attempting to frame his technological innovation as a crime. Shockingly, they identified a 3-million-yuan mortgage loan in his name and arbitrarily labeled it “illicit proceeds,” threatening to transfer him to Shandong for further detention unless he repaid it. Under such pressure, he was powerless and forced to have his family scramble to raise funds, submitting to the humiliation.
Choking back tears, he recounted, “Once the police label you a suspect, your assets become ‘illicit proceeds.’ Even a legitimate loan can be confiscated at their whim. This is blatant feudal authoritarian logic: they say you’re guilty, and you are, with no room for defense. This banditry leaves you utterly helpless.”
The raid not only obliterated Mr. Xiao’s sense of personal security but also exposed the ruthless efficiency of the regime’s stability maintenance apparatus. Without prior warning or legal procedure, Mr. Xiao went from a free citizen to a prisoner in an instant. Such sudden, violent arrests are a hallmark of the Chinese Communist Party’s tactics to intimidate dissenters, designed to crush any possibility of resistance with overwhelming force.
Inhumane Torment in a Black Jail
The arrest was only the beginning of the nightmare. Mr. Xiao was transferred to a so-called “designated residential surveillance” facility—a covert black jail located in a remote, desolate area, far beyond the reach of legal oversight.
Reporter: What were the conditions of the surveillance facility, and did you experience abuse? Mr. Xiao: “That place was like hell—cold, damp, with moldy, peeling walls reeking of decay. The prison uniform was stained with feces and urine, so revolting it made me gag. We were given one bowl of watery porridge with barely any rice and a plate of moldy pickled vegetables daily. Water was rationed to two bowls. The room was lit 24 hours a day with blinding white light, making sleep impossible and driving me to the brink of mental collapse.”
At this point, Mr. Xiao’s voice trembled, tears welling in his eyes. For a young man not yet in his thirties, such inhumane treatment left an indelible mark on his body and soul. He recalled how the captain of the cybersecurity team repeatedly dragged him into a dark, isolated room, choking him and roaring demands for more money, even forcing him to kneel in humiliation. Beatings became routine—slaps, punches, and kicks from boots rained down mercilessly. “Once, they ordered me to kneel, and I refused, but they forced me down,” Mr. Xiao said in a low voice, his tone filled with shame and anger.
On the 26th day in the black jail, Mr. Xiao’s mental defenses collapsed. He began banging his head against the wall, seeking physical pain to escape his inner despair. “I felt I was no longer human, just a shell to be manipulated at will,” he confessed, admitting he doubted whether he would survive that hell on earth.
To secure his release, his family exhausted their resources, raising over 10 million yuan by mortgaging all their assets and transferring overseas funds back to China to surrender. The police also seized his phone, rifling through his financial information without regard for privacy. He said with anguish, “Under the Chinese Communist Party’s tyranny, personal privacy is a joke, and property can be plundered at any moment. The U.S. Constitution’s principle of ‘sacred and inviolable private property’ is a pipe dream in China. The black jail showed me the regime’s true face: they’re not enforcing the law—they’re robbing people.”
The black jail’s inhumane conditions were not only physical torture but also an assault on his’s dignity. Constant bright lights, meager rations, and relentless violence and humiliation were designed to break a person’s will, forcing dissenters into submission. Mr. Xiao’s ordeal is a chilling reflection of the regime’s “psychological murder” of dissenters, a practice that sends shudders down the spine.
Forced Vaccination and Falsified Health Codes
In an even more outrageous twist, he was forcibly vaccinated against COVID-19 during his detention, despite the pandemic no longer being at its peak.
Reporter: What were the circumstances of the forced vaccination?
Mr. Xiao: “On August 6, the police took me to a detention center, saying I needed a vaccine health code. They forcibly took me to a clinic to get vaccinated. I protested that it was illegal, but they sneered, ‘You don’t get a say.’ Worse, they used someone else’s health code with my name to forge a pass. After the shot, I ran a high fever for a night, so weak I could barely stand.”
Obstructed Legal Representation and Extortion
Mr. Xiao’s family hired a Shanghai-based lawyer to represent him, only to face further threats.
Reporter: How did the police block your access to a lawyer and demand ‘illicit proceeds’?
Mr.Xiao: “My family hired a Shanghai lawyer, but the next day, the security captain forced me to kneel and threatened that if I used that lawyer, I’d never get out. I could only use a local one. My family persisted with the lawyer and raised money to pay the demanded ‘restitution,’ but the 300,000-yuan legal fee was wasted. The police just wanted money—pay up, and you’re free.”
After enduring immense hardship, Mr. Xiao escaped China and arrived in the United States. Now free, he continues his fight for internet freedom.
Reporter: How do you plan to advance internet freedom in China?
Mr. Xiao: “I’m still researching circumvention technologies and have partnered with Meng Feizhou on the ‘GetShofar’ project, where I handle technical development. I hope to contribute to free speech in China through my expertise.”
Mr. Xiao’s story is a testament to courage and sacrifice. His experience lays bare the human rights cost of the Great Firewall and the regime’s comprehensive suppression of press and speech freedoms. The firewall is not merely a technological barrier but a shackle on thought. In the darkness, Mr. Xiao has lit a faint spark, illuminating the path to truth for China’s censored masses. His struggle is a call for freedom and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
As of the publication of this interview, the Xiajin County Public Security Bureau continues to investigate Mr. Xiao. Further updates will follow.