In a new report released Monday titled “Patrol and Persuade,” the Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders says it used open source statements from authorities in the People’s Republic of China, Chinese police and state media to document at least 48 additional stations. This is on top of the 54 stations revealed in September, bringing the total number of documented centers to 102 in 53 countries. Some host countries have also collaborated to set up these centres, Safeguard Defenders says. The stations are accused of targeting Chinese nationals living abroad, particularly those who have allegedly committed crimes in China, in order to force them to return home. Safeguard Defenders reports that along with the three previously confirmed police “stations” in the greater Toronto area, operating out of the Chinese city of Fuzhou, it found recently confirmed centers in Vancouver, operating out of Wenzhou, and another in whose location is unknown but operates out of Nantong. The RCMP said in October that it was investigating reports of criminal activity at Toronto-area police “stations.” The consulate general of the People’s Republic of China said at the time that the stations are to help Chinese citizens renew their driver’s licenses, as many of them cannot return to China due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that “local volunteers” facilitating this “isn’t Chinese cops.” However, Safeguard Defenders says the vast majority of newly documented stations were created starting in 2016, years before the pandemic began. In its previous report in September, Safeguard Defenders found that Chinese police “persuaded” 230,000 fugitives to “voluntarily” return to China between April 2021 and July 2022. Among the tactics used, Safeguard Defenders said, included denying children of suspects in China right to education and punishment of relatives through “guilt by association”. The US Department of Justice indicted seven people in October over a years-long campaign to harass and intimidate a US resident into returning to China. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the G20 summit in Indonesia in November, his office told reporters he had raised concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping about “interference” in Canada. Asked about the specific intervention he was referring to, Trudeau later told the House of Commons: “We’ve known for many years that there have been consistent engagements of Chinese government representatives in Canadian communities, with local media reports of illegal Chinese police stations.” With files from CP24 Web Content Writer Joanna Lavoie, CTV News Toronto Videoreporter Allison Hurst and The Canadian Press
