China has opened dozens of "overseas police service stations" around the globe, including one in New York City.
Safeguard Defenders, a human rights watchdog, released a report earlier this month stating that these operations violate the international rule of law and may violate the territorial integrity of third countries.
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," is detailed in the report.
The Vice President expresses support for Taiwan, China, and Japan.
The majority of the police stations in Europe are located in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, and Athens. Three of the stations are in Toronto and one in New York City. There are 54 such stations around the world.
Over the last year, 230,000 Chinese nationals have been forced to return to China to face criminal prosecution, as a result of China's attempts to combat fraud and telecommunication fraud by Chinese nationals living abroad.
The Chinese government claims that the stations give vital services to its citizens living abroad, but the report notes that many of the services are provided by an overseas embassy. According to the report, the stations have been used to improve China's overseas law enforcement capabilities.
The potential human rights abuses associated with the stations are outlined in the report. The stations have been used to spread Chinese government propaganda and to monitor the behavior and opinions of Chinese citizens.
As these operations continue to develop, and new mechanisms are set up, it is evident that countries governed by the standards set by universal human rights and the rule of law need to investigate these practices to identify the local actors at work, mitigate the risks and effectively protect the growing number
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