Jamil Chad China has three “secret” police stations in Brazil, activists condemn 05/12/2022 06:54

A survey conducted by the organization called Safeguard Defenders reveals that Chinese authorities maintain three so-called secret police stations on Brazilian soil. The accusation made by the activist group is that such centers serve to monitor and intimidate Chinese overseas, as well as in some cases forcing dissidents to return to the country.

More than 40 million Chinese are estimated to live outside their home country, and Beijing has become increasingly interested in the activities of these groups abroad in recent years.

The study now shows that there are more than 100 police stations maintained by China in 53 countries. The document is published this Monday and first appeared by the newspaper. Guard???????? The Chinese government explained to the British newspaper that such places only serve to provide services to Chinese abroad, including bureaucratic procedures such as passport or driver’s license renewal.

But for the Protection Guard, such centers are used to “harass, threaten, intimidate, and” force the Chinese to return to the country to face trial. In September, Western authorities launched an investigation after some of these cases emerged in countries such as the Netherlands, Canada and Germany.

In the Brazilian example, Fuzhou officials would have a seat in São Paulo, while Qingtian would maintain an operation in Rio de Janeiro. Wenzhou officials are also located in Brazil, but the identity of the office has yet to be determined, according to activists.

In Latin America, there would also be secret police stations in Peru, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Cuba, Chile and Argentina. The survey revealed that such offices still exist in Los Angeles and New York.

According to the new report, a significant part of these secret police stations will be in Italy. One such center in Milan was used as a sort of testing ground for how Beijing would monitor its population abroad and track down dissidents.

The document, released Monday, identified a total of eleven police stations across Italy, as well as centers in Croatia, Serbia and Romania.

Activists still draw attention to how “persuasion operations” are being carried out from police stations in Paris, in addition to the return of 80 people from abroad. According to the group, some of these centers have been established with the “consent” of local governments in Africa and Asia.

For activists, there are suspicions that cooperation agreements between certain countries and China are being abused precisely so that such offices can serve not only as service centers, but also as a function of monitoring the Chinese population around the world.