Beijing Intimidation Case in France Renews MP’s Concerns About Illicit Chinese Police Stations in Canada

Conservative MP Michael Chong is again calling attention to secret Chinese police stations operating in Canada, prompted by a recent incident in France involving alleged coercion of a critic of the Beijing regime, who narrowly avoiding forced repatriation to China.

In a May 5 post on X, Mr. Chong described the incident as “a chilling, frightening account of PRC [People’s Republic of China] repression in France.” He added that “this is happening in Canada too—and why the RCMP are justified in shutting down these PRC ‘police stations.’”

Ling Huazhan, a 26-year-old man of Chinese origin, posted a video online criticizing Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the founder of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Mao Zedong. Subsequently, Mr. Ling received coercive messages summoning him to a suspected secret Chinese police station, as reported by French national television France 2 on May 1.

France 2 reporters, forewarned of the potential threats against Mr. Ling, recorded individuals alleged to be employees of the Chinese embassy in France and members of a Franco-Chinese association escorting him to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, where he nearly faced forced repatriation to China. Despite escaping his guards before boarding the plane, Mr. Ling reported ongoing threats against him and his family.

Safeguard Defenders cautioned that these overseas Chinese police stations engage in surveillance and manipulation of Chinese diaspora communities as part of efforts to advance Beijing’s interests. The NGO initially focused on studying the regime’s use of forced repatriation in campaigns known as Operation Fox Hunt and Sky Net. These campaigns initially aimed to curb online fraud crimes committed by Chinese nationals living abroad but were later extended to silence regime dissidents.

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Starting in 2018 as a separate campaign, the overseas Chinese police stations later facilitated the forced repatriation efforts of the Fox Hunt and Sky Net campaigns, according to Safeguard Defenders. Targeting dissidents and persecuted religious and ethnic minorities, these Chinese police outposts adopted various intimidation tactics, including harassing the targets or their family members in China. The regime describes those who succumb to the pressure as being “persuaded to return” to China, the NGO said.

Citing Chinese officials and state media reports, the NGO noted that Chinese authorities have facilitated the involuntary return to China of 230,000 nationals between April 2021 and July 2022.

Mr. Chong, who is also a known target of Beijing’s intimidation campaign, highlighted that “the human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders [identified] the same PRC ‘police stations’ here [in Canada] as in France.”

Despite these claims, organizations accused of hosting the Chinese police stations remain active. In Montreal, the two groups facing the allegations have initiated a nearly $5 million defamation lawsuit against the RCMP for disclosing its investigation. In Toronto, one of the three accused organizations continues to host events, and received a Chinese New Year greeting from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in February.

While U.S. authorities have made arrests and laid charges against individuals involved in operating a secret police station in New York City, no arrests have been made in Canada in relation to the matter to date.

The Epoch Times contacted the RCMP for comment on the status of its investigation into the alleged Chinese police stations in Canada. However, the force did not respond by the time of publication.