An international network of consular volunteers is China’s second line of offense.
A few of the so-called “police stations” that the Chinese Communist Party has set up around the world are now out of business. For example, in April 2023 the FBI arrested two men in New York City for setting up such a police station there.
The purpose of the stations is to monitor and intimidate, and often forcibly repatriate, Chinese nationals, and also to monitor and intimidate foreign critics of China.
Research published by the Madrid-based organization Safeguard Defenders has helped alert country governments and others to what is going on, leading to investigations and closures of some of the stations.
But even if all of these stations around the world were bulldozed—and there are probably more than those we know about—the police-station thugs aren’t the only Chinese personnel targeting expatriate Chinese nationals. China practices strategic redundancy, and there is also (at least) a network of “consular volunteers” who do this kind of work for the CCP.
Again, Safeguard Defenders is sounding the alarm. According to Yitong Wu and Chingman, writing for Radio Free Asia:
While Beijing has shut down some of its overseas police “service centers” following protests from host countries, the “consular volunteer” network has managed to fly under the radar until now, further enabling China’s overseas influence and illegal transnational law enforcement operations, according to the report.
The state also “encourages and supports insurance companies, emergency rescue agencies, law firms and other social forces” to take part in consular work, it says.
“Take part in consular work.” So this means what, exactly? Helping prepare for diplomatic events? Manning consulate telephones? Licking envelopes? Well…
According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, “the United Front system acts as a liaison and amplifier for many other official and unofficial Chinese organizations engaged in shaping international public opinion of China, monitoring and reporting on the activities of the Chinese diaspora, and serving as access points for foreign technology transfer.”
The Safeguard Defenders report called on democratic countries to review the practice of “consular volunteering” by Chinese diplomatic missions, and warned them not to take part in United Front-linked events.
French current affairs commentator Wang Longmeng described consular volunteers as quasi-spies.
“The so-called assistance in providing consular services actually means collecting financial support from overseas Chinese individuals,” Wang said. “This can help the Chinese Communist Party control overseas Chinese remotely, making them loyal to party and state, as well as helping China to steal Western technology and intelligence.”
It was China’s consulate in San Francisco which mobilized pro-CCP protesters, some of whom physically attacked anti-CCP protesters, during Xi Jinping’s visit to San Francisco.
These are the kinds of activities that make it advisable to shut down all Chinese consulates in the U.S. and send all of their personnel packing.
How extensive are China’s international harassing activities? Very. Zhou Fensguo, executive director of the U.S.-based organization Human Rights in China, suggests that the CCP “will take up every bit of space it can in democratic societies to extend its rule and engage in state persecution.”
Also see:
Safeguard Defenders: “China’s Consular Volunteers”
“Beijing’s flaunting of international laws and national sovereignty is far from new.”
Safeguard Defenders: “Patrol and Persuade”
“Patrol and Persuade (2022) is a follow-up investigation to 110 Overseas, revealing more clandestine Chinese overseas police service stations, new police jurisdictions running such systems, and more cases of how these stations engage in ‘persuasion’ operations to force Chinese residents back to China.”
StopTheChinazis.org: “Pro-CCP Activists Attack Anti-CCP Activists in San Francisco”
“San Francisco police mostly stood by as allies of the Chinese Communist Party attacked human rights activists for protesting the repressive policies of the Chinese government while Chinese Dictator Xi Jinping was visiting San Francisco.”
