The British government has ordered China to close “underground police stations” operating in the UK, which are supposed to provide administrative services but are also accused of being used to detain opponents of the Beijing regime, it has been reported. on Tuesday.
London diplomacy “has notified the Chinese embassy that any role related to such ‘police stations’ in the UK is unacceptable and they should not operate under any circumstances,” Secretary of State for Security Tom Tugendhat said in a statement. statement to parliament published. today.
In response, Chinese authorities have vowed to shut down the alleged stations, according to the Secretary of State’s press release.
The presence of these facilities was mentioned in the United Kingdom, but also in France, the United States and also in Portugal, but China has always denied their existence.
The UK Home Office and London Police launched investigations after human rights group Safeguard Defenders documented the existence of these sites last year.
There would be three or even four in the UK, according to Tugendhat, who said police had visited all suspected locations and “no illegal activity had been identified”.
“We believe that the police and public surveillance had an effect,” explained the Secretary of State.
“However, these ‘police stations’ were set up without our permission and however low level of administrative activity they have carried out, they will have harassed and intimidated those who left China to find safety and freedom in the UK.” added.
In April, The Times newspaper published an article about Lin Ruiyou, a Chinese businessman with ties to the British Conservative Party, who ran a food delivery business in the South London district of Croydon, which also functioned as a non-Chinese police station. declared.
The Chinese embassy in London said then that it had repeatedly denied the existence of such police stations abroad and criticized the spread of “false accusations”.
After the “golden age” desired by the then British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015, relations between London and Beijing have deteriorated considerably in recent years, due in particular to the repression of the anti-democracy movement in Hong Kong (formerly British territory), abuses committed against the Uyghur Muslim minority and suspicions of espionage in relation to the telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei.
On May 30, Portuguese Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho told parliament that Lisbon had received assurances that China would not support alleged secret Chinese squads in Portugal.
Responding to a question from Deputy Rodrigo Saraiva (IL) at a parliamentary hearing in the Foreign Affairs Committee, the head of Portuguese diplomacy recalled the recent visit of the Chinese Vice President, Han Zheng, to the country and that, in his dialogues with the authorities Portuguese, issues related to Macao or Ukraine were discussed, but also the alleged police stations.
“The signal we gave was that, on the Chinese side, it was essential to limit its activities in Portugal to what was agreed in the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, consular relations,” he said.
And, in this sense, he continued, “the Chinese communities in Portugal have to comply with these treaties”, adding that this guarantee was given.
Source: TSF
