A recent @SafeguardDefend report found that #China has opened dozens of "overseas police service stations" around the globe to monitor its citizens living abroad, including one location in New York City and three in Toronto. news.yahoo.com/china-opened-o…
"These operations eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity in third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods."
The report details China's extensive efforts to combat "fraud" by its citizens living overseas, in part by opening several police stations on five continents that have assisted Chinese authorities in "carrying out policing operations on foreign soil."
Europe is home to most of the police stations, with locations spread across the continent in places such as London, Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest, Athens, Paris, Madrid and Frankfurt.
North America is also home to four of the stations, with three locations in Toronto and one in New York City. In all, there are 54 such stations in 30 different countries.
The report details how China has attempted to "combat the growing issue of fraud and telecommunication fraud by Chinese nationals living abroad," running operations that have resulted in 230,000 Chinese nationals being "persuaded to return" to China "voluntarily" ...
... over the last year to face criminal prosecution.
The report argues that the stations have been used to enhance China's overseas law enforcement capabilities in possible violation of international law.
The report also outlines the potential human rights abuses associated with the stations, including using harassment and intimidation methods, such as threatening the family members of the overseas citizens.
The stations have also served as centers to spread Chinese government propaganda and monitor the behavior and opinions of Chinese nationals.
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By @vwang3: "So when a hotel employee woke me up a little after 7 a.m. to explain that we were not allowed to step outside for four days, my initial disorientation quickly turned to resignation.
"A sense of possible disaster always lurks, driven by the experiences of Shanghai and other cities, where sudden lockdowns have left residents without food or medicine. A friend bought a second freezer so she could stock up on groceries."
"Yet the policies have been in place for so long, and with so little sign of easing, that navigating them feels — if not normal — at least routine."
“More than 100 people died Saturday night after a professional soccer match in Malang, Indonesia, when rioting fans prompted the police to fire tear gas into tightly packed crowds, according to local officials.” nytimes.com/2022/10/01/wor…
After the Arema football club lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya, dozens of fans rushed the field at Kanjuruhan Stadium, Arema’s home.
The unrest prompted the police to fire tear gas, which caused panic, Inspector General Nico Afinta, the East Java Police chief, said at a news conference. He said 127 people died, two of them members of the National Police.
“Authoritarian regimes are increasingly making use of regional cooperation organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to bolster each others' regime security in the name of counter-terrorism, experts told a recent seminar.” rfa.org/english/news/c…
Edward Lemon, assistant professor of international affairs at Texas A&M University, said authoritarian regimes rarely act alone, often relying on bilateral cooperation with local governments and regional organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
"Authoritarian regional organizations are built around the codification of authoritarian norms," Lemon told an online seminar run by the Institute on Sept. 28. "They bypass human rights, facilitate swift extraditions and bolster regime protections."
“The United States and #China need to reopen dialogue over the #Taiwan issue — but such a conversation should take place discreetly, an analyst said.” cnbc.com/amp/2022/09/30…
The two superpowers are currently playing a "blame game" with each other, and dialogue needs to be reestablished, said Paul Haenle, who holds the Maurice R. Greenberg director's chair at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"The Chinese have pulled down the dialogue in the aftermath of Pelosi's visit. I would argue, frankly, you got to open it up," Haenle said.
“Moderna has refused to hand over to #China the core intellectual property behind the development of its breakthrough Covid-19 vaccine, leading to a collapse in negotiations on its sale there, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.” ft.com/content/a481c1…
Moderna turned down Beijing’s request to hand over the recipe for its messenger RNA vaccine because of commercial and safety concerns, said two people involved in negotiations that took place between 2020 and 2021.
The vaccine maker says it is still “eager” to sell the product to China.
“Two small Taiwanese groups at far ends of the debate over relations with Beijing marked #China's national day on Saturday with flag raisings and flag burnings, very opposite responses at a time of rising tension over the Taiwan Strait.” news.yahoo.com/flag-raisings-…
In a rural part of Tainan in the south, the Taiwan People's Communist Party gathered about 200 people, mostly elderly, to sing China's national anthem and raise the country's flag on what the party referred to in a news release as "a sacred part of China's territory".
Lin Te-wang, the chairman of the party which has no elected officials and is very fringe, told Reuters that China was no threat, despite the recent war games which were condemned by all of Taiwan's mainstream parties.