China has an overseas police station in the U.S. According to a human rights advocate, China’s alleged abroad police service centers and their efforts to convince nationals to return home represent a frightening extension of the regime’s international reach.
Safeguard Defenders, a pan-Asian human rights organization, launched an investigation last month exposing a Chinese attempt to combat “fraud and telecom fraud” offenses perpetrated by its people residing overseas. The research revealed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had created at least 54 police stations throughout 30 different nations, including the U.S.
Laura Harth, campaign manager for Safeguard Defenders, said to Fox News, “I believe it demonstrates how blatant the CCP is becoming and how little respect they have for other nations.” It is a breach of international law as well as territorial sovereignty.
According to the research, most of the police stations are situated in Western Europe, but four are in North America, including one in New York City. They allow Chinese officials to “carry out policing activities on foreign soil,” Hart said
This demonstrates how ignorant and stupid certain countries are or prefer to be at this point, Harth told Fox News. European authorities are woefully weak in knowledge and desire to act on or even look into it.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, 230,000 Chinese nationals have been “persuaded to return” home to face criminal prosecution since the campaign’s inception in April 2021. A significant portion of this international policing repression effort is aimed at silencing the community, stifling opposition, and ensuring that people are sufficiently terrified, Harth told Fox News.
Among the stated methods used to induce Chinese nationals to return are threats and intimidation of relatives in China. Children of a suspect may be prohibited from attending school, and their family’s bank accounts and property may be seized.
People will be interrogated and maybe detained, according to Harth. “Also, there is guilt by association.” There are reports of individuals being prosecuted or detained for supposed accusations leveled against their relatives outside of China.
China will do anything to encourage them to urge their family members to come back, she claimed. She added that nothing appears too remarkable or cruel for the CCP.
If such methods fail, the CCP will send its international officers to immediately confront the suspect as a way of “persuasion,” according to Harth. She stated this is a clear warning to anyone wishing to leave China or who has already left China that you are not secure anywhere.
Harth told Fox News that China’s claimed extradition missions work without the local government’s knowledge or consent. She stated that this is entirely unlawful and this is no routine international police collaboration. These were established without the knowledge or request of local authorities, Harth added,
The Chinese embassy informed The Irish Times that the Chinese government claims the stations offer services such as renewing passports and driver’s licenses to Chinese people residing overseas. While this may be somewhat accurate, according to Harth, the stations are primarily meant to boost China’s international law enforcement capabilities.
Harth stated we are aware that they are expanding an existing network of “United Front work organizations.” This may escalate quickly if not halted immediately at the beginning. According to Harth, we must take action.