Britain demanded that China on Tuesday close Chinese "secret police stations" in the United Kingdom, which are supposed to provide administrative services but are also accused of using them to prosecute dissidents, but Beijing denies the existence of such centers.
British Security Secretary Tom Tugenhat, in a statement to his country's parliament, said the Foreign Office "informed the Chinese embassy that any job related to these police stations in the UK is unacceptable and should not be operated under any circumstances."
He mentioned the existence of such centers in the United Kingdom as well as in France, the United States and Canada, but China has long denied this.
Preliminary investigations
Britain's Home Office and London police launched preliminary investigations after human rights group Safeguard Defenders last year documented the existence of secret China security centres in Britain.
Minister Tugenhat spoke of the possibility of 3 or even 4 centres in the UK, and said police had visited every suspected location and had not observed "any illegal activity". "We believe that police and public surveillance has had an impact," the security minister said.
"However, these police stations were set up without our permission, and no matter how low the level of administrative activity, it will worry and fear those who have left China in search of safety and freedom in the UK."
Two Arrested for Operating Illegal Overseas Police Station of the Chinese Government | OPA | Department of Justice https://t.co/lvjc7SFHHQ
— Safeguard Defenders (保护卫士) (@SafeguardDefend) April 17, 2023
Company & Center
In April 2023, the British newspaper The Times published an article about Lin Ruyu, a Chinese businessman with ties to Britain's ruling Conservative Party who runs a food delivery company in the Croydon area of the London suburbs, which also serves as an unannounced Chinese police station.
The Chinese embassy in London said it had "repeatedly stressed that there are no so-called police stations abroad" and denounced the publication of "false accusations".
Other countries
The US authorities said in April 2023 that they had arrested two men on charges of establishing a secret Chinese "security center" in New York, and charged 34 Chinese government employees for participating in a campaign to monitor and harass opponents of Beijing residing in the United States.
In December 2022, Canada announced that it had summoned the Chinese ambassador to clarify the issue of suspected Chinese police stations on Canadian soil and warned against taking action. But Beijing stressed that these "centers" are not at all related to any police but "their main purpose is to provide free assistance to Chinese citizens."