maaxx.ca

Canadian federal police are investigating reports of undeclared Chinese “police service stations” in the province of Quebec.

The RCMP said it was investigating two sites in the Montreal area believed to be operating on behalf of Beijing.

Human rights groups have accused China of using the channels to threaten and surveil Chinese nationals abroad.

China has denied operating the stations, calling them “service centers” for its nationals abroad.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was an issue that concerned his government.

“We are in the process of ensuring that the RCMP follows up on this matter and that our intelligence systems take this seriously,” he said.

According to the Spanish NGO Safeguard Defenders, which monitors disappearances in China, these channels are part of at least a hundred branches operating in 53 countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States.

In a report released last year, the nonprofit said the stations were part of the Chinese regime’s efforts to “harass, threaten, intimidate, and force targets to return to China for persecution.” .

It says China’s public security bureaus have established “overseas police stations” on several continents, including two in London and one in Glasgow. In North America, it has stations in Toronto, Vancouver and New York.

Last November, the RCMP confirmed they were investigating reports of gas stations operating in the Greater Toronto Area.

On Thursday, federal forces asked Chinese Canadians who may have been targeted by what police called “suspected Chinese police stations” to come forward.

“These activities and any other form of intimidation, harassment or targeting of diaspora communities or individuals in Canada will not be tolerated,” RCMP Sergeant Charles Poirier said Thursday.

The US federal police have already expressed concern over similar reports of such stations operating in the country.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told a US Senate hearing in November that China’s attempts to establish a police presence on US soil “violate sovereignty and circumvent standard processes of judicial and police cooperation.” “.

Safeguard Defenders reported that a so-called Chinese police station had been set up on Broadway in New York.

Chinese embassies in the United States and Canada said these sites were “overseas gas stations” opened during the pandemic to help nationals abroad with driver’s license renewals and other matters. similar.

But Jing-Jie Chen, a researcher at Safeguard Defenders, told the BBC he was skeptical of China’s explanation.

“If you really want to support your nationals abroad, you can use official channels, you don’t have to do it undercover,” he said.

The RCMP investigation comes amid allegations that China attempted to interfere in Canada’s last two federal elections, reports that have strained relations between the two countries.

With additional reporting from Jessica Murphy