In the fall, a human rights organization published reports that China had established dozens of “secret police stations” around the world.
So far, the Protection Police has no observations about China’s so-called “unofficial police stations” in Finland. The stations have caused debate since the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders published in the fall reports (you switch to another service)according to which China has established 102 secret police stations in a total of 53 countries.
According to reports, the purpose of the stations is to monitor Chinese citizens and pressure them to return to their home country for criminal trials. According to the organization, the activities of the “policemen” are illegal and are likely to target opponents of the administration and dissidents.
The protection police is aware of unofficial police stations in other countries, Supo tells by email.
– China is one of the countries that targets Finland with intelligence and influence activities, but Supo has so far no observations of unofficial police stations in Finland.
According to Supo, China’s surveillance and influence activities have many types of structures, of which unofficial police stations are just one example. Although the stations described in the report have not been revealed in Finland, China implements surveillance in other forms.
Read also: Finns with a Chinese background tell MOT about repeated surveillance and harassment
Supo: China’s influence activities strengthened
According to a human rights organization report, “police stations” operate in several countries through local Chinese associations. The associations are linked to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front work department, one of whose goals is to control overseas Chinese.
The most stations have been observed in Western countries and especially in Europe. For example, Canada, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands have launched examinations of the stations after the publication of the report, news agencies say.
Japan reported its latest investigation. The Czech Republic also reported in December that China has closed two stations in Prague.
According to Safeguard Defenders, the “police stations” are an extension of China’s efforts to pressure its citizens living abroad whom the country suspects of cyber and telecommunications crimes. China has claimed that its cybercrime campaign has successfully lured 230,000 Chinese suspects back home between April last year and July this year.
According to the Protection Police, one of the objectives of the stations is to monitor and control the Chinese diaspora abroad, but the stations also have tasks other than spying on refugees.
According to it, the phenomenon is, on the one hand, part of the strengthening of China’s influencing activities internationally. On the other hand, according to Supo, police stations are related to China’s internal development, where power is being increasingly concentrated in the Communist Party and efforts are being made to secure the party’s position by all possible means.
Chinese authorities have denied accusations of the existence of “policemen”, claiming that the volunteer-run centers help Chinese people renew their identity papers and provide other services to Chinese living abroad.
– So-called Chinese foreign police stations do not exist, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mao Ning commented on Thursday.
Sources: Reuters, AFP, AP
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