There are dozens of Chinese police stations around the world that are owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in order to “monitor” it’s citizens. Some of the CCP police stations are located in the United States, according to a recently released report. These police stations are supposed to monitor the activities of Chinese citizens, but their presence begs the question – what else are they monitoring? Are they also monitoring U.S. Citizens?
“These 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,” reads a report by Safeguard Defenders, a human rights watchdog, released earlier this month.
The report, titled “110 Overseas: Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild,” details China’s extensive efforts to combat “fraud” by its citizens living overseas, in part by opening several police stations on five continents that have assisted Chinese authorities in “carrying out policing operations on foreign soil.”
The Chinese government has claimed that the stations provide vital services to its citizens living abroad, though the report notes that many of the services are those that would be traditionally carried out by an overseas embassy. Instead, the report argues that the stations have been used to enhance China’s overseas law enforcement capabilities in possible violation of international law.
The report also outlines the potential human rights abuses associated with the stations, including using harassment and intimidation methods, such as threatening the family members of the overseas citizens. The stations have also served as centers to spread Chinese government propaganda and monitor the behavior and opinions of Chinese nationals.
These practices by the CCP need to be urgently investigated by President Biden’s Administration, yet he is silent on the issue.