Chinese Police Overseas Service Stations

The term "overseas service station" ( zh, c=海外服务站, p=hǎiwài fúwù zhàn) and the associated phrase "Overseas 110" or "110 Overseas" ( zh, c=海外110, p=hǎiwài yībǎiyīshí, l=abroad 110; alluding to China's emergency number for the police, 110) refers to various extralegal offices established by China's Ministry of Public Security in other countries. The Chinese government has claimed they were established to provide Chinese nationals in foreign countries with bureaucratic assistance, such as document renewals, and to fight transnational crime, such as online fraud. However, controversy emerged after human rights group Safeguard Defenders published a report in 2022 alleging these offices had been used to intimidate Chinese dissidents and criminal suspects abroad into returning to China. The report led to increased scrutiny and investigations of the stations by the governments of host countries.

History

According to analyst Matt Schrader, "overseas Chinese service stations" ( zh, c=华助中心, p=huázhù zhōngxīn, l=Chinese assistance center) were first established in 2014, with 45 centers in 39 countries having been opened by 2019. These centers were mostly formed from existing united front organizations and did not have policing authority. Schrader further stated that the centers served several legitimate purposes despite criticism of them, such as assisting crime victims with dealing with the host country's police and integrating new immigrants, but pointed to a lack of transparency around the relationship between the centers and the Chinese government, particularly personnel of the United Front Work Department, and their political influence operations.

Later, the Nantong police department would be the first to set up "overseas service stations", associated with the phrase "110 Overseas" ( zh, c=海外110, p=hǎiwài yībǎiyīshí, l=abroad 110) as part of a pilot project in 2016, reportedly setting up offices in six countries and having solved at least 120 criminal cases that involved Chinese nationals as well as detaining over 80 people in Myanmar, Cambodia and Zambia. Afterwards, Wenzhou's Public Security Department established a "contact point" in Sydney, Australia and the Lishui bureau established two offices in the Netherlands (one in Amsterdam, another in Rotterdam) in 2018. The police agencies of Fuzhou and Qingtian counties would set up the most numerous of the offices, with the latter beginning their program in 2019. As of October 2022, a total of 54 such stations had been established in 30 countries. According to the Chinese government, the centers had been set up to allow Chinese nationals to access administrative services such as driver license and other document renewals without having to travel to China, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to confront transnational crime, especially fraud, affecting overseas Chinese communities. In May 2022, ''China Youth Daily'' claimed that the stations operated by Fuzhou authorities had received over 1,800 reports from 88 countries.

Human rights group Safeguard Defenders released a report in September 2022, alleging that the police stations were part of a program named Operation Fox Hunt, and were used to harass and coerce individuals wanted by the Chinese government, including dissidents, via threats to their families and themselves, pressuring them to return to China where they would then be detained. Safeguard Defenders claimed that, between April 2021 and July 2022, the Chinese government recorded 230,000 "suspects of fraud" who were "persuaded to return". Additionally, the group claimed the stations violated the sovereignty of host countries by allowing Chinese police to circumvent police cooperation rules and procedures. For instance, Wang Jingyu, a dissident who fled China after being targeted for social media posts and was granted asylum in the Netherlands, claimed he had been threatened and sent harassing messages by the Rotterdam station to make him return to China, with his parents who remained in China being targeted. A broader example was a notice issued by an overseas station operated by the government of Laiyang in Myanmar, which stated that Chinese nationals who were there illegally should return to China or "there would be consequences for their loved ones", such as cancellation of their state benefits. An anonymous official from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an interview with ''El Correo'', stated that the stations used "persuasion" tactics to convince those wanted by the government to return to China, pointing to the difficulties of getting European states to extradite to China.

Reactions

In response, some countries, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands announced they would investigate the stations. The overseas service stations in Dublin were ordered to close by the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late October 2022, although one had already stopped operations and took down its sign earlier when electronic ID renewal procedures were introduced. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that, as the Chinese government had failed to notify the country about the stations through diplomatic means, they had been operating illegally, with further investigation to be conducted into their conduct. Foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra later ordered both offices to close. In November 2022, Canada summoned the Chinese ambassador Cong Peiwu and issued a "cease and desist" warning concerning the stations. In December 2022, Italy announced that its police would cease joint patrols with Chinese police officers inside of Italian cities.

Locations

See also

* Chinese intelligence activity abroad
* Extraterritorial operation
* Operation Fox Hunt

References

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Ministry of Public Security (China)
Chinese intelligence agencies
Foreign relations of China
Human rights abuses in China