China accuses Canada of defaming its reputation with its police stations Relations between Canada and China

At a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Canada should do so Stop making a fuss about this issue and stop attacking and slandering China.

She added that the latter was Strict respect for international law and the judicial sovereignty of all countries.

The spokesperson did not comment on the existence of the police stations or say whether they were run by Chinese government authorities.

Sergeant Charles Pourier, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said Thursday that two Chinese Canadians have been victims of activities carried out by the stations.

He stressed that Canada will not tolerate There is no form of intimidation, harassment or harmful targeting of diaspora communities or individuals in CanadaAdding that the integrated national security team of RCMP Investigations into alleged police stations in Montreal and Broussard opened.

Spanish Organization for Human Rights Preventive measures advocates He argues that China has dozens of such stations around the world, including three in the Greater Toronto Area.

The stations are getting used to it, she said in a report published last September Harassing, threatening, intimidating and forcing people back to China for persecution.

collective interests

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously described these overseas positions as service positions for overseas Chinese who need help with bureaucratic tasks, such as renewing a Chinese driver’s license.

These citizen services are usually provided by an embassy or consulate.

Beijing has launched two campaigns to return wanted suspects, mostly for economic crimes, to China, but has maintained that its agents abroad are acting in accordance with international law. The US authorities made it clear that this was not always the case.

The police stations have raised global fears that the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to control its citizens abroad, often using threats against their families and their safety.

These methods will also allow them to undermine other countries’ democratic institutions while gathering economic and political information.

Issuance of diplomatic visas

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie said Thursday that concerns about foreign interference were behind Canada’s refusal to issue a diplomatic visa to a political worker in China last fall.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the presence of Chinese police stations in Canada is a concern of the federal government.

” We are aware of [présence de] Chinese police stations across the country for months, and we ensure that the RCMP is following up and that our intelligence services are taking the situation very seriously. »

Sino-Canadian relations took a sharp turn for the worse in 2018, after China jailed two Canadians on allegedly trumped-up charges.

The event came shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of tech giant Huawei and daughter of the company’s founder, on an extradition request from the United States.

The two Canadians were returned to Canada in 2021, the same day Ms. Meng returned to China after, in her case, reaching an agreement with US authorities.