Chinese Ghost Police Stations in Europe: A Deteriorating Relationship
China’s establishment of police stations across the European Union signals the deterioration of an already strained relationship between the two global superpowers. Initially formed in 2018, these stations worked in broad daylight under the pretext of being service stations. These ‘honorary embassies’ provided Chinese emigrants with services aimed at simplifying bureaucratic procedures that were usually executed domestically. It was not until Safeguard Defenders, a Spanish NGO specialized in monitoring the sudden disappearances of Chinese civilians in Europe, published an investigation in regards to these stations in late 2022 that severe alarms were raised across the European community over China’s violation of European sovereignty.
The aforementioned report suggests that at least 54 police stations across five continents have been operating since 2019 with the goal of ‘persuading’ Chinese citizens to leave Europe and return to China. This prompted additional investigations by numerous European governments that later confirmed and acted upon the NGO’s findings. In the Netherlands, two facilities have been shut down both because of their failure to register with the Dutch government and because of their confirmed role in silencing dissidents of the Chinese government abroad. Scotland has taken a similar approach, with Scotland Police Chief Sir Lain Livingstone insinuating that the ghost police station is due a probable shutdown. In England, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has been pushing for the approval of the National Security Bill, a legislation aimed at addressing and tackling transnational repression.
While Beijing has not denied the existence of these stations, the country has doubled down on their stance that their stations exist for the sole purpose of bureaucratic assistance rather than to threaten Chinese emigrants to return to China. In contrast, Safeguard Defenders’ report documents that ghost police stations stationed in Europe persuaded at least 230,000 Chinese dissidents to ‘voluntary’ return to the mainland. Safeguard Defenders identified three types of persuasion tactics, easily referred to as ‘Type 1’, ‘Type 2’, and ‘Type 3’ actions. The first method involves pressuring the target's family through “means of intimidation, harassment, detention or imprisonment” until the family member returns voluntarily. Type 2 follows a similar approach but directly targets the interested individual rather than their family. Finally, Type 3, also defined as the Involuntary Returns Category, “involves direct kidnappings on foreign soil.” Safeguard Defenders specified in the report that there is no concluding evidence of ghost police stations having yet resorted to the involuntary returns strategy.
Regardless of the national stir that China’s violation of European sovereignty has caused, China does not intend to slow its operations anytime soon. More police stations have already been uncovered both in the United States and in Australia. The European Union’s executive arm has already stated that member states will address the issue individually rather than collectively. Given that these stations have operated under the facade of restaurants, barber shops, and other mundane stores, assigning this responsibility to each member state may prove a bigger challenge than expected. If this issue remains unresolved, the CCP will have moved one step closer to extending its reach worldwide and establish an international legal framework from which its members cannot escape.
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