China has been accused of establishing at least two illegal “police stations” in the Netherlands, a report said citing Dutch media. Evidence has been found that the "overseas service stations", while promising to provide diplomatic services, are being used by China to try to silence dissidents in Europe, BBC reported.
Dutch foreign ministry spokesperson said that the existence of unofficial police stations was illegal while the Chinese embassy said that it was not aware of their existence.
The investigation began after a report entitled Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild, by Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders, BBC further reported.
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The Spain-based NGO said that the public security bureaus from two Chinese provinces had established 54 "overseas police service centres" across five continents and 21 countries.
Many of these illegal police stations are in Europe, the report claimed adding that there were nine in Spain and four in Italy. In the UK there were two illegal police stations made by the Chinese.
The NGO said that the units were created to carry out "persuasion operations" which means that they are aimed at coercing those suspected of speaking out against the Chinese government to return home. However, China has maintained that these are not police stations but are units created to tackle transnational crime and conduct administrative duties, such as the renewal of Chinese drivers' licences.
{{/usCountry}}The NGO said that the units were created to carry out "persuasion operations" which means that they are aimed at coercing those suspected of speaking out against the Chinese government to return home. However, China has maintained that these are not police stations but are units created to tackle transnational crime and conduct administrative duties, such as the renewal of Chinese drivers' licences.
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