China has opened up more than four dozen informal police stations across Europe and the Americas that sometimes operate as fronts to track and harass political dissidents, a new report alleges.
The report, written by Spanish-based nonprofit Safeguard Defenders, claims the Chinese Communist Party had a hand in setting up the centers called"110 overseas service stations," after the country's police emergency phone number.The centers, operated by Chinese community associations on five continents in total, have been pitched as places to help Chinese nationals living abroad, as well as handle paperwork such as driver's licenses.
“In general, these stations have both a good and a bad purpose,” Safeguard Defenders Director Peter Dahlin told The Daily Telegraph. “They are there to help say Chinese tourists who get into trouble, they can act as a liaison with the local police, they can help out, basically. The problem is they are not properly registered as [agents for the police] in these different countries.
In one incident described in the report, officers at one office in Madrid found a man and forced him to participate in a"video call with public security agents and a prosecutor." It also alleged some service stations have resorted to threatening to"cut electricity to the homes of families" or"restrict access to public schools for relatives" unless people did not do as they were told.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Streetlights in Europe are getting bluer – that may be bad for healthStreet lights are getting gradually more blue-tinged as countries switch to energy-efficient LEDs
Read more »
The switch to LEDs in Europe is visible from spaceImages from space show European cities are glowing more and more blue, raising concerns about harms to human and animal health.
Read more »
Morocco, Nigeria ink deal to pipe gas to West Africa, EuropeThe 5,600-km Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project traverses 13 African countries along Atlantic coast and would be linked to Maghreb–Europe Gas Pipeline in order to reach Europe via Algeria.
Read more »
North America and Europe experienced hottest August on record, NOAA saysLast month brought severe drought, wildfires, and sweltering-hot temperatures to many parts of the world, including North America and Europe, which both experienced their hottest-ever Augusts on record, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Read more »
Firefighters from Europe in Tucson trainingFirefighters from different parts of Europe are training here in Tucson. Many are learning from the experience and finding out what's similar between their techniques.
Read more »
Column: Can Europe save its industrial metals production sector?The European Commission's focus on future-looking metals seems to have blind-sided it to the older metals that are also required to decarbonize, writes Andy Home.
Read more »