Canadian police are investigating the alleged existence of Chinese “illegal squads” in Canada, which they described as “interference” by a foreign power and a threat to national security, police said today.
For the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the possible existence of clandestine police stations poses a threat to national security, it said in a statement.
The investigation began after the non-governmental organization (NGO) Safeguard Defenders denounced that the Chinese government operates illegal police stations in more than 50 countries around the world, including three in the Toronto metropolitan area, Canada’s largest city.
This NGO also identified three identical structures in Portugal, leading to the opening of an investigation by the Central Department for Investigations and Criminal Prosecutions (DCIAP), as announced by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) at the end of October.
The Canadian Mounted Police explained that after the information was made public, “it is investigating” whether there has been any criminal activity against the country’s Chinese community.
“Our goal is to prevent harassment, threats and harassment against any community in Canada, as well as any harm done on behalf of a foreign entity,” this police force stressed.
Canadian authorities have also requested information from the public about the existence of illegal police stations or threats or intimidation related to the activities of these centres.
In the report released in September, the NGO Safeguard Defenders accused Beijing of maintaining 50 “police centers” in several countries, which will have persuaded 230,000 alleged fugitives to return to China between April 2021 and July 2022. would work “illegally” in Portugal, according to the NGO, based in Madrid.
The Safeguard Defenders report was released in Portugal in late September by IL leader João Cotrim Figueiredo during a debate in the Assembly of the Republic.
China has already rejected allegations that it has set up 50 “police centers” in several countries to control dissidents, including in Portugal.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended that the structures are “actually service centers for Chinese people abroad”.
The European Commission, for its part, stressed at the end of October that it is up to member states to investigate the existence of alleged Chinese squadrons in the European Union (EU).
Source: DN
