China's law enforcement extends its reach globally through police outposts, including three in Toronto: Report

China has reportedly opened numerous “overseas police service stations” around the world to aid in monitoring Chinese expatriates living abroad, including three in Toronto and one in New York City.

Fox News indicates that the report, titled “110 overseas,” published by human rights organization Safeguard Defenders, found that the operations “eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity in third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods.”

The report goes into detail about the Chinese Communist Party’s effort to fight “fraud” committed by its citizens around the world, and how it has assisted Chinese police in “carrying out policing operations on foreign soil” — effectively keeping its citizens in line.

Fox News reported:

Europe is home to most of the police stations, with locations spread across the continent in places such as London, Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest, Athens, Paris, Madrid and Frankfurt. North America is also home to four of the stations, with three locations in Toronto and one in New York City. In all, there are 54 such stations in 30 different countries.

The report details how China has attempted to "combat the growing issue of fraud and telecommunication fraud by Chinese nationals living abroad," running operations that have resulted in 230,000 Chinese nationals being "persuaded to return" to China "voluntarily" over the last year to face criminal prosecution.

China, meanwhile, claims that the stations provide its citizens living abroad with vital services that would traditionally be carried out by its embassies. The report disputes these claims, arguing that the outposts are used by the Chinese government to extend its law enforcement capabilities.

"As these operations continue to develop and new mechanisms are set up, it is evident that countries governed by the standards set by universal human rights and the rule of law urgently need to investigate these practices to identify the (local) actors at work, mitigate the risks and effectively protect the growing number of those targeted," the report stated. 

Ian Miles Cheong

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Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. He’s kind of a big deal on Twitter.

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