China has been using surveillance on its miniorities based in foreign countries for intimidation, blackmail and coercion.
People who have received such threats are the ones who have spoken about the repression by the Chinese Government against minorities such as Uyghurs, Tibetans, political dissidents, etc.
In view of cases of threat and coercion against minorities who have taken asylum in the Netherlands, alliance members comprising representatives of Uyghurs, Moroccans, Iranians, Turks and Tibetans on April 20 held a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Justice & Security and Ministry of Social Affairs.
During the meeting, alliance members highlighted foreign interference by China and how they threaten their respective community members in countries like Turkey, China, Iran etc.
Tsering Jampa, Secretary, Tibet Support Group enquired whether the Chinese police stations had been closed in the Netherlands.
The Coordinator for National Counter Terrorism and Security (NCTV) reaffirmed that the two Chinese police stations in Rotterdam and Amsterdam had been closed.
Deliberations were also held on setting up a Reporting Centre where persons who are threatened can report through the municipality or the police.
The Centre will analyse the inputs and take follow-up action with the concerned departments and consider providing protection to threatened individuals. The Ministry of Social Affairs is preparing a plan on these lines.
This comes after the US discovered six more Chinese spy bases after the FBI busted a Chinese ‘police station’ in New York City, reported New York Post (NYP).
The FBI helped shut down a clandestine Chinese “police station” in Manhattan after the arrest of two alleged operatives earlier this week.
Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, both New York residents, are facing conspiracy charges to act as China’s agents and obstruction of justice.
Meanwhile, NYP informed that several more of these illegal organizations are scattered across the US.
“We found at least four listed in the US by PRC (People’s Republic of China) public security authorities, plus flagged an additional four overseas Chinese service centers in the US set up by the United Front Work Department (UFWD) networks responsible for manning the stations,” said a spokeswoman for Safeguard Defenders.
In addition to the Chinese police station above a noodle restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown, there is another station at an undisclosed address in New York City, as well as an outpost in Los Angeles, according to a new report by Safeguard Defenders.
In addition to Los Angeles and New York, the non-profit has found so-called “overseas service stations” in San Francisco and Houston as well as in cities in Nebraska and Minnesota.
The Madrid-based human rights group initially published a report last year detailing 100 clandestine Chinese police stations around the world.
These law enforcement organizations, operated by the Chinese Communist Party, are tasked with spying on Chinese nationals around the world, reported NYP. However, Beijing denied running these stations, characterizing them as “service centers” for overseas Chinese nationals.
UFWD is an acronym for United Front Work Department, a Chinese government agency that controls overseas ethnic and religious affairs.
Often, the police stations — whose operatives allegedly spy on dissidents and others — hide behind non-profits and community associations, according to Safeguard Defenders’ reports.
These police stations are part of at least 100 functioning across 53 countries, including the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Last month, Canadian police initiated an investigation into two sites near Montreal suspected to be Chinese police outposts.
Beijing is apprehensive about its citizens going rogue in a “third” country, particularly in the US and European cities.
As a result, Chinese security agencies have been actively intimidating dissidents abroad to avoid international embarrassment on human rights issues and quash any signs of rebellion.
Interestingly, the Chinese government uses ‘Chinatowns’ in different cities across the globe for its covert activities.
