Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order “to protect Texans from the coordinated harassment and coercion by the People's Republic of China (PRC) or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

The order directs the Texas Department of Public Safety to target and arrest anyone implementing CCP influence operations like “Operation Fox Hunt,” an initiative of the PRC to forcibly return people to China it’s identified as so-called dissidents living in the U.S.

“The Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a worldwide harassment campaign against Chinese dissidents in attempts to forcibly return them to China,” Abbott said. “Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies.”

Abbott issued the order after the FBI-Houston issued a warning stating that the PRC “may be cyberstalking, physically intimidating, and harassing Chinese citizens, naturalized U.S. citizens, and families of dissidents who speak out against the Chinese Communist Party in Texas.