Former Diplomat Exposes How China’s Secret Detention System Breaks Prisoners

By Li Ting, Vision Times

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig has shed new light on how Chinese authorities use prolonged isolation, psychological pressure, and coercive interrogation to break detainees under a controversial system of secret detention known as Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL).

Kovrig, who was detained in China from 2018 to 2021 for espionage allegations, contributed the foreword to the third edition of The People’s Republic of the Disappeared, a collection of firsthand accounts scheduled for publication on Oct. 28 by human rights organization Safeguard Defenders.

The book examines how Chinese security agencies use RSDL to hold individuals at undisclosed locations, often denying access to lawyers, family members, and independent oversight.

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Inside China’s secret detention system

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According to Kovrig, detainees are frequently seized without warning, blindfolded or hooded, handcuffed, and transported to undisclosed facilities. Once confined, they may spend months in padded cells with little more than a hard bed, basic toiletries, and a few articles of clothing. Their families are often left without information about their whereabouts.

Despite Chinese law limiting RSDL to six months, Kovrig noted that detainees may still face years of additional detention or imprisonment. Access to legal counsel can also be restricted in cases involving national security, leaving individuals effectively isolated from outside assistance.

Human rights lawyer Sui Muqing described the emotional toll of confinement, recalling that “the pain of missing my family was the worst suffering.”

Isolation, surveillance, and psychological control

Kovrig identified the manipulation of time as one of the system’s most damaging features. Blackout curtains prevent detainees from distinguishing day from night, while constant artificial lighting and the absence of clocks disrupt normal sleep patterns.

Two guards typically remain inside the cell, with surveillance cameras monitoring detainees even while they sleep, bathe, or use the toilet. Basic activities, including showering, require permission. Prolonged immobility and inadequate nutrition can further weaken detainees physically and psychologically.

Kovrig cited the experience of human rights lawyer Xie Yang, who was reportedly forced to sit for hours on a high stool with his feet suspended above the floor, causing severe pain and swelling. The United Nations (UN) has also warned that solitary confinement exceeding 15 consecutive days can constitute torture under certain circumstances.

Women’s rights activist Li Qiaochu described the fear of disappearing without anyone knowing what had happened to her. “If they just dug a hole and threw me into it, maybe no one would even know,” she recalled.

Interrogations designed to extract confessions

Beyond physical confinement, Kovrig described interrogations combining conventional police questioning with political indoctrination methods rooted in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) early history. Interrogators may falsely claim that acquaintances have confessed or implicated the detainee, while sleep deprivation and repeated questioning weaken resistance.

The process can alternate between threats and seemingly minor rewards, such as reading materials, better food, or opportunities to leave the cell. According to Kovrig, these practices create an environment in which cooperation becomes a means of securing basic necessities.

Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che described how interrogators exploited his psychological vulnerability. “The officers exploited my mental fragility with calculated threats and promises, preying on my desperation,” he recalled.

Kovrig argued that the eventual objective is not simply gathering evidence but compelling detainees to adopt the authorities’ account of events. Those who confess may be required to repeatedly rewrite statements of repentance and self-criticism until interrogators consider them sufficiently convincing.

Recorded confessions can then be publicized, reinforcing official narratives while further humiliating detainees and destroying their mental health.

Calls for international accountability

Kovrig and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor were released on Sept. 24, 2021, after nearly three years in Chinese custody. In his foreword, Kovrig emphasized the importance of documenting the experiences of others subjected to secret detention.

He called on foreign governments to impose targeted sanctions against officials involved in RSDL, while urging international organizations to increase scrutiny of China’s detention practices. He also recommended linking judicial cooperation and extradition arrangements with China to verifiable improvements in detention conditions.

Kovrig specifically highlighted the cases of Americans Youlin Chen and Min Zin, along with Czech national Aleš K., as examples of individuals whose detention warrants international attention. The third edition of The People’s Republic of the Disappeared includes 10 firsthand accounts of detention under China’s security apparatus.