Chinese police have illegal police stations in 100 countries: Serbia and Croatia in the report!?

(Patria) - Beijing has established more than 100 overseas police stations worldwide that conduct surveillance, harassment, and in some cases deportation of Chinese citizens living in exile, using bilateral security agreements with countries in Europe and Africa. A major investigation by the human rights activist group Safeguard Defenders has shown that this phenomenon is also present in Serbia and Croatia, writes CNN, as reported by Nova.rs.

This Madrid-based group claims to have found evidence that China has an additional 48 police stations abroad since the group first discovered the existence of 54 such stations across Europe in September this year. The countries involved in this network are Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Romania, and many others.

The report, titled „Patrol and Persuasion“, examines the role that joint police initiatives between China and several European countries have played in the previously unknown expansion of Chinese influence, writes CNN.

The organization claims that one Chinese citizen was forced to return home by undercover operatives at a Chinese police station in the suburbs of Paris, specially recruited for that purpose. Earlier findings showed that two other Chinese exiles were forcibly returned from Europe – one from Serbia, the other from Spain.

By searching publicly available official Chinese documents for evidence of alleged human rights violations, four different police jurisdictions of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security were identified as active in at least 53 countries, covering all four corners of the world. Their task is reportedly to assist Chinese expatriates with their needs abroad.

Chinese police across Italy, video surveillance in residential buildings

As the world's second-largest economy, China has developed deeper relations with many countries where new police stations are allegedly found, raising questions for national governments balancing commercial interests with national security. Italy, which signed a series of bilateral security agreements with China starting in 2015, has largely remained silent during the disclosure of alleged activities on its territory.

Between 2016 and 2018, Italian police conducted several joint patrols with Chinese police, first in Rome and Milan, and later in other cities including Naples.

In this city, evidence was found that a video surveillance system was installed in Chinese residential buildings, allegedly set up to combat crime.

An Italian police official told NPR in 2016 that the joint police work would „lead to broader international cooperation, information exchange, and resources to combat criminal and terrorist groups affecting the two countries“.

The NGO reveals that Italy hosted 11 Chinese police stations, including in Venice and Prato near Florence. A ceremony in Rome in 2018 for the opening of a new station was attended by Italian police officials, according to footage posted on Chinese websites, indicating close ties between the police forces of the two countries.

China has also concluded similar joint police patrol agreements with Croatia and Serbia between 2018 and 2019 as part of the nation's growing strategic influence within Xi's foreign policy initiative „Belt and Road“.

Chinese police officers were seen on joint patrol with their Croatian colleagues on the streets of Zagreb in July this year.

A Zagreb police official, speaking to the Chinese agency Xinhua, said the patrols are key to „protecting and attracting foreign tourists”.

Also, a 2019 Reuters report states that Chinese police officers joined Serbian police officers on patrol in Belgrade to help cope with an influx of Chinese tourists. One Serbian police officer emphasized that the Chinese have no authority to arrest.

Beijing claims it is slander

Beijing has denied having undeclared police forces outside its territory, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that such „slandering“ of China is unacceptable.

China claims that the disputed facilities are administrative centers, set up to assist Chinese citizens and administrative matters, such as renewing their driver's licenses. China has also said that these offices are a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which left many citizens stranded in other countries and outside China, unable to renew their documents.