Chinese living abroad are to receive diplomatic assistance in "service centers". But the offices are actually supposed to collect information for the Chinese police and put critics under pressure. Two such centers are now under scrutiny in the Netherlands.
According to Dutch media reports, China has set up illegal police offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The TV station RTL Nieuws and the investigative platform Follow the Money report that there are indications that the Chinese authorities are putting pressure on dissidents who have fled under the guise of "service centers". According to reports, China maintains such police offices in several countries. As announced by the Foreign Ministry in The Hague, investigations into the "activities of the so-called police centers" have been initiated. "When we have more clarity, appropriate measures will be taken," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maxime Hovenkamp.
According to the media, the office in Amsterdam was said to have opened in 2018, and in Rotterdam there has been a branch of the Chinese police in an inconspicuous apartment since the beginning of 2022. The Dutch authorities were not informed about this.
The media also cite Chinese state websites as describing these offices as "service stations" that offer diplomatic assistance. Chinese living abroad should be able to renew their driving licenses there, for example. But the offices should also enable Chinese policing abroad, gathering information and silencing critics.
A refugee dissident told RTL Nieuws that he had been called by an employee of the Rotterdam office. He was asked to return to China and "solve my problems, (...) he also said that I had to think about my parents". The Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed the reports as "completely false".
The investigations were sparked by a report by Spain-based non-governmental organization Safeguard Defenders, the BBC said. According to the organization, several public security bureaus from two Chinese provinces had set up a total of 54 "overseas police service centers" on five continents and in 21 countries. The majority of the offices are in Europe, including nine in Spain, four in Italy and one in Germany.
