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China has exponentially expanded its network of illegal overseas police stations, to “extend its tentacles” across a web of new community associations, according to a report by international human rights group Safeguard Defenders.
In its latest report, the Spanish non-governmental organization (NGO) identifies nearly 1,250 overseas Chinese associations which they say are fronts for suspected police centres in 91 countries.
“That network is being used to watch the diaspora. To watch what they do, what they say and to essentially police them,” says Laura Harth, Safeguard Defender’s China director in an interview with CTV News.
The new figures are also a 12-fold increase from the NGO’s findings four years earlier.
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The report, A Formula for Repression, asserts that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is exporting “its domestic system of surveillance and control to Chinese diaspora communities around the world.”
China has more than 60 million citizens living abroad.
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Safeguard Defenders says the associations are run by overseas party operatives under the direction of Beijing’s United Front Workers Department (UFWD).
President Xi Jinping calls the UFWD a “magic weapon” for monitoring and controlling its citizens, no matter where they live.
Safeguard was able to identify 1,247 community hubs that had acknowledged they were “liaison points” to Chinese police and prosecutor websites and in publications.
The NGO says any association connected to the UFWD can be mobilized to participate in its mass surveillance program.
China says it has “tens of thousands” of UFWD affiliated organizations around the world.
Instead of being chastened by the past exposure of its illegal activities, Harth, the report’s lead researcher, says China has gotten better at covering its tracks.
“They’ve learned their lesson. The public security bureaus were maybe a bit too enthusiastic. They (previously) put their own logos on walls and doors. Now post 2022, they’re more careful about (not) naming the exact associations they’re working with.”
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Researchers say that more than 10 police forces from five provinces in China are working through a vast network of Chinese Federation hubs on foreign soil.
The hubs are marketed as a place for the diaspora to connect culturally and foster business and tourism ties with various provinces and cities in China.
Safeguard Defenders lists the names of 80 regional associations linked to Chinese law enforcement. In 2022, it only found four associations that had set up police stations.
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Safeguard’s report claims that at least 18 Chinese overseas associations are participating as police monitoring stations in Canada. These associations may have multiple sub-branches in one city.
In 2022, the NGO revealed five illegal police locations in Canada.
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New Democratic Party MP, Jenny Kwan calls the allegations troubling.
“If true, it suggests that existing government responses have not been sufficient to deter these illegal activities,” Kwan wrote in an open letter addressed to Canada’s public safety minister.
“Canada must close the legal gaps, investigate these operations and ensure that people in our communities can speak, organize and exercise their democratic rights without coercion, intimidation or fear.”
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree represents a riding in Scarborough, Ont., with a high population of ethnic Chinese constituents. He’s cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
“I can say that foreign interference of any sort is unacceptable. It’s something that we will not tolerate. With respect to these specific allegations – they are allegations and have not been investigated,” Anandasangaree said.
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Fear in ethnic communities
In Canada, the RCMP says it has investigated five alleged Chinese police stations in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. However, no charges were laid.
Uyghur-Canadian Rukiye Turdush, the executive director for Center for East Turkistan National Interest, calls the massive spike in China’s overseas police stations “shocking and scary,” but not a surprise.
She has organized protests against China’s violation of human rights in Xinjiang and says she has seen firsthand how the UFWD is suppressing dissent.
Turdush, says fellow Uyghur activists who received visas to visit relatives in China were pressured to sign documents stating support for Chinese national law.
“They come back and they’re scared …They hide and can no longer come to my organization.”
The activist is also concerned that her organization has been infiltrated by CCP operatives to launch attacks on the leadership and spy on members.
“That’s how China is dividing the community. We don’t trust each other and we don’t feel safe,” Turdush said.
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Canada-China police co-operation agreement
Safeguard Defender’s new data comes 11 months after Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a new police co-operation agreement with President Xi.
In January, the two leaders committed the RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to increased co-operation in combating corruption and transnational crimes such as telecommunications fraud, cyberfraud and the trafficking of illegal synthetic drugs.
The prime minister has refused to release the text of the agreement despite calls from the Conservatives and the NDP to do so.
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Canada does not have an extradition treaty with China, but Michael Kovrig, senior advisor for the International Crisis Group, says the agreement implies that the RCMP and the MPS are co-equal policing organizations that follow similar norms and behaviours.
“That’s simply not the case. The RCMP is not setting up fake police stations to influence Canadians abroad. It’s not involved in subversive activities in foreign countries. We should be calling for the agreement to be released. We need transparency and accountability.”