A suspected police station operated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been identified in Richmond, British Columbia.
On Monday, Andrew Chen of The Epoch Times reported on a CCP-operated website instructing citizens of the Chinese city Nantong where they can locate international police offices.
One of the locations shows an address in Richmond – a city in British Columbia where most citizens are of Asian descent.
“In February 2016, the Nantong Municipal Public Security Bureau took the lead in establishing the country’s first police and overseas Chinese linkage service center,” the archived website reads.
The website further gives reasons the offices exist, including to “realize the linkage and sharing of various information of government and non-governmental organizations at home and abroad.”
As previously reported by The Counter Signal, the human rights group Safeguard Defenders says more than 50 stations exist worldwide, including three in Toronto, home to Canada’s largest Chinese diaspora.
Safeguard Defenders says the purpose of Chinese outposts in Canada is to force the return of Chinese nationalists who’ve broken Chinese law.
”In most countries, we believe it’s a network of individuals, rather than … a physical police station where people will be dragged into,” said Laura Harth, a campaign director at Safeguard Defenders.
“It’s completely illegal under international law. It’s a severe violation of territorial sovereignty.”
The RCMP have told CBC it’s investigating “reports of criminal activity in relation to the so-called ‘police’ stations.”
In October, The Counter Signal reported on Chinese dissidents in Canada demanding the Canadian government take action against the police stations.
Co-founder and trustee of Hong Kong Watch, Aileen Calverley, said she’s “frightened” because there are Chinese police where she lives in Milton, Ontario.
“There’s no legislation,” Calverley stated. “There’s nothing to deter them. Nothing to punish them.”
“So I think Canada really needs to look into this. Because they are Chinese police. So they should be considered as agents.”
Later in October, America’s DOJ announced espionage-related charges against multiple Chinese citizens and hinted at more actions, leading to speculation that it will remove all Chinese “police” stations in the US.
