Canada is hoping to discuss with its Group of Seven (G7) allies on how to address the overseas secret police stations set up by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This has become a common challenge faced by several member countries.
The CCP has established multiple overseas “police stations” in Western democratic countries to monitor and intimidate overseas Chinese. The seven G7 member countries – Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan – all have reports or coverage related to the CCP’s overseas police stations, prompting the countries to consider how to deal with the CCP’s infringement of their sovereignty.
According to Bloomberg on Saturday (July 13), citing two informed sources, Canada has conducted a detailed investigation into the operations of CCP secret police within its borders and plans to share the investigation results with G7 allies in the coming weeks, hoping to discuss a coordinated response. Due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, the two sources requested anonymity.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa stated in a statement that “there are no so-called overseas police stations.”
The non-governmental organization Safeguard Defenders, headquartered in Madrid, stated in a 2022 report that the CCP operates at least 54 overseas 110 stations spanning five continents.
Safeguard Defenders warned that these secret police stations are part of the CCP’s long-arm law enforcement and cross-border repression, leading to the forced repatriation of 230,000 Chinese citizens living overseas in 2021 and 2022.
The report mentioned that the forced repatriation of Chinese citizens, known as “persuasion” according to Beijing, is part of the CCP government’s efforts to combat telecom fraud activities targeting overseas Chinese. The organization warned that operations like “Skynet” and “Fox Hunt” also involve intimidation and even abduction of Chinese dissidents globally, with support from CCP secret police stations around the world.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stated that they are investigating allegations related to the operations of CCP secret police, including “credible” information from the second-largest province, Quebec.
In March 2023, the RCMP publicly disclosed investigations into two CCP secret police stations in Quebec, located in Montreal’s Chinatown at the Full City Chinese Family Service Center and in Brossard at the South Shore Chinese Service Center of Quebec.
Both centers have denied these allegations and filed lawsuits against the RCMP in December 2023. The two centers have yet to respond to requests for comments.
In response to the lawsuit, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme revealed in a March 2024 interview with CBC that the police relied on “credible” information to investigate these two centers. After the investigation, the RCMP reported receiving at least 15 “important leads” related to CCP police stations.
This week, the RCMP launched a campaign against CCP interference in Quebec, urging the public to provide any information on threats, harassment, or intimidation activities by the CCP in Quebec.
A spokesperson for Canadian Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc, Jean-Sebastien Comeau, stated in a declaration, “Any form of foreign interference is completely unacceptable.” “As investigations into foreign interference in Canada are ongoing, we will not provide further comments,” the statement added.
Beijing argues that these overseas police stations are managed by local volunteers, assisting overseas Chinese in updating documents and providing other services.
In March 2024, Chinese dissident Lin Huazhan managed to escape forced “repatriation” by CCP spies and overseas police station chiefs at a French airport, attracting global attention.
Under the watchful eyes of French police, Lin Huazhan was subdued by seven Chinese individuals, disregarding his resistance, trying to escort him to the boarding gate. French border police intervened, halting the forced repatriation plan and saving Lin Huazhan.
The entire event was captured by French media on-site and broadcast on television.
French newspaper Le Monde reported on July 2 that the Director and Deputy Director of the CCP National Security Ministry’s Paris office were accused of planning the forced repatriation incident, leading to demands for the departure of these two Chinese officials with diplomatic immunity from France.
Lin Huazhan detailed how CCP overseas police threatened and bribed him, subjected him to detention, assault, and torture in France during an interview with New Tang Dynasty TV.
“I urge the French government and French police to lawfully arrest these CCP spies and overseas police, expelling those who need to be expelled. Internationally, efforts must be strengthened to combat CCP overseas police activities,” Lin Huazhan stated.
The Japanese government also expressed a firm stance against CCP’s overseas 110, calling it a violation of sovereignty that cannot be tolerated. Japanese media reports that there is a police station from the Public Security Bureau of Fuzhou, Fujian Province in Tokyo, and a police station from the Public Security Bureau of Nantong, Jiangsu Province in Japan, although the current locations are unknown.
An informant living in Japan told Dajiyuan that CCP’s “overseas 110” is not a service point but a means of coercing and intimidating individuals in overseas espionage activities, “equivalent to endangering lives.”
Bloomberg stated that an official revealed that the UK also hopes to coordinate actions with G7 member countries like Canada.
However, another official pointed out that coordinating response measures might be complex due to many countries facing this issue at the enforcement level, alongside different legal systems within G7 countries.
In 2023, the UK government expressed shock over reports of CCP setting up police stations within its borders. In June of the same year, the UK government stated that the Chinese authorities had closed these overseas 110 stations, with investigations finding no illegal activities by the CCP government at these overseas police stations due to the “suppressive influence” of oversight by UK police and the public.
In the same year, the US government in New York charged two individuals of Chinese descent for engaging in illicit police activities on behalf of a branch of the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security in Chinatown, with the aim to “monitor and intimidate dissidents and critics of the Beijing government.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stated in an anti-fraud promotional material that if individuals claiming to be Chinese authorities contact you, contact your local FBI office.
“The officials of foreign governments carrying out lawful enforcement activities in the United States must coordinate with US federal authorities,” the FBI emphasized.
Italy began investigating the CCP’s overseas police stations following Safeguard Defenders’ report. The German government stated that the country has two such secret police station locations.