China’s illegal police stations in 53 countries | 60 Minutes Australia

It is well known that China will not tolerate any criticism, that its opponents of the communist regime are simply not tolerated, but it seems that Beijing now believes that it also has the right to ignore international borders and silence dissent wherever it sees fit in the world. Illegal outposts called Chinese

police

service

stations

have been created abroad and, as the name suggests, their objectives are clear, our

police

agencies deny that

stations

exist here, although the Chinese authorities publicize their existence, but in any case So that's not the end of bullying. Australians are also being attacked in other strange ways for daring to talk about China, how's that?

Okay, the worst thing Andrew Phelan has done is rack up a few minor speeding tickets, taking care of his frail, elderly mother keeps him well and truly on the straight and narrow. narrow he I was sitting in my chair and the blind was down and I saw footsteps approaching, so on Australia Day this year he was suddenly arrested at his home in Melbourne. He was in deep shock. Did you think it was a joke? Did you feel it was? Very serious thought about plainclothes police officers with an arrest warrant saying what were very serious criminal offences, so it certainly wasn't a joke and I confess it baffled me.

China has been very good at exposing our most vulnerable part, which is Andrew, a television. The commentator and enthusiastic critic of the Chinese Communist Party was taken to his local police station. Does anyone else have access to his phone? Don't know. He was accused of sending a violent email threatening to rape and kill a Chinese Australian journalist even upon hearing the extraordinary charges against him Andrew had no idea what was going on death threats threaten to cause serious injury commit a sexual act or stalk yes that was the charge at the time what was that surreal incredibly confronting it was horrible I wouldn't I wish it on my worst enemy, it was during this police interview that Andrew first heard the vile words he was accused of, he wrote and He sent the email so go back to China and if you don't, I'll go.

I find you hitting your yellow oh have your throat at least then you'll bleed the red color of the CC vegan. Never in a month of Sundays would I use that kind of language with a woman or anyone else, yes, you've heard it now. complete, yeah, I mean, it bothers me to hear it again, it makes me so angry. What makes you angry about that? That this was done anonymously from the Shadows, but there is no doubt who is responsible. I believe this has been done under the auspices of the Ministry of MSS China. of State Security, yes, I think they are targeting Westerners who are not critical of the PCC in the public square.

For me, they are Christmas cases. Clear as crystal. Someone created a fake email address. He sent an abusive email after a long interrogation. The police accepted Andrew. He was not the author of the email, the message certainly did not come from his email address and he was not charged, but Andrew's ordeal is not unique. Monash University academic Kevin Caraco is a victim of very similar tactics. Did you expect to be seen as a target followed in Australia, did you expect this to happen here? No, what I wasn't prepared for, right, was the non-stop harassment that sends horrendous messages to random people like Andrew.

A sexually offensive email in his name was recently sent to a Chinese journalist in the UK. Continued Punishment Kevin takes over for daring to write two books criticizing the Chinese Communist Party says, um, how's the white people's BJ going? BJ here, of course, refers to um oral seis. Kevin took a more direct hit when another fake email was sent to nearly 70 people in the department saying that he resigned if the intent was to cause confusion and inconvenience, it worked. Whoever was doing this had created an email account in my name and sent a fake resignation letter to my entire school.

This is a huge effort for a supposed superpower. go harass a lowly lecturer in Melbourne who harasses Australians, it seems it doesn't matter who you are if you dare to criticize, prepare to get back at China and no matter how forceful or brutal they are, they will do anything to disrupt your life in the Drew Pavlou, a 24-year-old human rights activist, is a veteran of attracting the attention of Chinese authorities even in my own country. I upset them a lot with my protest. I maintain that it is my right as an Australian citizen and I knew that would make me a Target, but I didn't realize they were going to attempt a bomb threat and I didn't realize they were going to arrest me as a terrorism suspect last year .

Drew was arrested while protesting outside the Chinese embassy in London after he alleged that the regime made a false bomb threat in his name until it was established that Drew had not made that threat and he faced 12 years in prison. The police said we got an email in his name and um, I stood there stunned like a stunned mullet. We don't worry about many things, however, in China, for example, if you talk about Taiwan independence, it is a cry. China's former foreign affairs diplomat Victor GAO is frighteningly clear: anyone criticizing Beijing for its treatment of minorities or advocating independence beware, so if you are a dissident activist or protester in Australia who makes those claims about Tibet, Taiwan, Uyghurs, are you safe or are you not safe?

That is a violation of the one-child policy and therefore what happens to them will be heavily scrutinized. Do not violate China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, otherwise there will be no free refuge anywhere in the world because if you do, sooner or later justice may be served. It's a strange kind of justice, but in a six-month period, Drew received over 40 emails threatening to kill him and they traced him to a mercenary working for the Chinese Communist Party to receive an email talking about kidnapping you, you drew and cut yourself into little pieces to get a fifty thousand dollar reward, how's that?

To be honest, he really did. knock me out because, you know, a good part of the year it's hard to admit that they kind of won that round, if that's not bad enough, Drew's mom Vanessa is now in the crosshairs, her only crime is being Drew's. Mom, she has never criticized the Chinese Communist Party but, like her son, she now has a fifty thousand dollar bounty on her head and, unfortunately, her reputation is also under attack. This ridiculous email was sent out late last year to major shopping centers in Brisbane in the hope that someone would do it. contact the boss of the store Vanessa works at, she runs an

illegal

prostitution service and is addicted to cocaine, yeah um, and whoever fires her first will get remuneration, the method doesn't matter, scaring, I'm always looking over my shoulder if I'm walking to my car, if I do, you know, I'm always aware, I'm much more aware, but I just try to live a normal life because otherwise I learned, right?

Yeah, I mean, this is your house, Vanessa, this is it. your country and you're being threatened like this, well, where else are we supposed to go? That's the thing, this is our country, this is where we were born, so along with the fear and how much anger there is, well, for me, I get angry, they think that. They should be able to silence us through these kinds of mafia-style tactics, these gangster tactics. China has so many things to worry about. We have 1.4 billion people to feed and clothe. Do you really think we are Superman and still have enough energy and resources to It would seem that this is not really pragmatic, perhaps allowing the Chinese to focus on what we need to do at home instead of worrying about things like the ones you describe in Australia, but intimidating attacks on our own freedoms are on the rise, both here and abroad, anyone who offends China will be killed no matter how far away the target is, so no matter how far away you are in Australian Europe , American, if you are a fan of China, then they will kill you on the strict condition of not revealing their identity. whereabouts so as not to expose him to danger The body of the Australian political artist is showing me his work in progress as he prepares for a major exhibition in Poland.

I just have to be careful with myself even now. You know, we were sold miles away from China in Australia. but still safety is not really an option and I just have to be very cautious, even while making art, that the world will see exactly, yes, a body that lived in China for 20 years before being exiled to Australia is considered an enemy of the state. for his art he often boldly paints the Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping as a tyrant, so in this image we can see that Xi Jinping is actually eating the torso of a baby, of course this image is a metaphor in itself , but I think it's accurate enough to reflect what's really happening inside China.

Do you like being so close to this plug? It's very dramatic maybe I'm one of the artists in the world who represents his face the most clearly you push the bear your art is very graphic and not at all complementary um no in this case I mean push the panda um yeah I think to be honest , the worst part about China is that we have this very authoritarian regime and now this type of brutality is spreading all over the world, so it doesn't matter exactly where you are in the world, the body says that the Chinese authorities have exercised There is so much pressure on galleries here that he cannot exhibit his work in Australia and, as his international reputation has grown within China, the artist's family has been attacked and questioned by the authorities. it means continuing his fight against repression the human rights defender has had to cut ties with his loved ones to keep them safe the Chinese are sorry they want him to stop making art or the consequence is, in quotes, since they say no there will be mercy For me, I don't have mercy on you exactly, but you didn't give up your art, yes, because I don't think you can trade freedom for your safety.

The body is a brave man, but China's intimidation campaign is relentless and outrageous. His Australian citizenship offers little protection. Melbourne I have been experiencing being followed by a very suspicious person. I was on the bus, I suddenly find myself surrounded by four middle-aged Asian men, all dressed very similarly, um, and they're actually all equipped with a Bluetooth headset, do you have any ideas? actually sending you this, since it all sounds like a Hollywood fictional body saying that you must stay one step ahead to ensure its safety and survival, you must constantly move between cities and

countries

, this prepared us.

I really should beat you to death, but staying in the shadows doesn't stop the almost daily death threats that the body is sure are coming from China. Anyone who offends China will be killed no matter how far away the target is. Yes, it doesn't matter how far away you are in Australia, the United States and Europe, if you are a fan of China. then they will kill you they will kill you Long time magicians from China yes, this week that long arm arrived in Poland with officials from the Chinese embassy in Warsaw demanding that Bardi's latest art exhibition be closed the gallery operators refused to be intimidated, how is that?

China with all its power can be so hurt by someone like you. Is this feeling of insecurity among our dictators? They've become these control freaks. They can't trust anyone, so even if it's a single voice, even if it's an individual, they will suppress them. as if they are at war with them, at war with you exactly and that war has escalated to a bold and terrifying new height with the discovery of a Chinese secret police force operating around the world, it is almost unthinkable and definitely designed to be monitor, harass and create some type of intimidation against anyone who wants to criticize the Chinese government.

Wang Jing Yu, 21, who lives in the Netherlands, has first-hand experience of this secret Force that tries to show his strength anywhere every time he fled China four years ago. After publicizing his support for Hong Kong democracy operating from Rotterdam, the overseas police station tracked down the young dissident to harass him repeatedly every day. Chinese police stations abroad build more than 100 times, don't come to me. New Jing says he was bombarded by calls one after another and all night to pressure him to return to China they asked me to go to the Chinese in Rotterdal or versus the police station give up talk to them and return to China because I refused what would happen to you if you go back to China If I went back to China, I think I would probably go to prison.

Yes, it is very terrible. When you heard that there was a police station in Rotterdam that was Chinese, I feel very bad. I have a lotafraid because they can't do anything. They have not died, yes, in China in 2021, Jinyu's parents were detained to pay for her son's crimes and as a brutal bargaining chip to guarantee Jinyu's return, how long were her parents detained? It's more than a year, yes, more than a year and now they are safe, actually, I don't know, I don't know anything about my parents, to be honest, I don't know where my parents are, do you ever feel tempted to keep silent to make your life easier and no, I won't do it because of you?

I know if I accept this, you know, stop speaking under Chinese authority, they will think this place works and use this plan to attack other Chinese dissidents, so I wouldn't do this, yes, Rotterdam is just one of a network of stations secret police installed on foreign soil so far more than 100 have been identified in 53

countries

, among them here it is believed that there are two police stations in Australia the Chinese authorities list at least two police stations in Australia in an extraordinary escalation that ignores the law international or now borders China is accused of running a secret police force in 53 countries around the world;

There are believed to be over a hundred of these individual stations and they operate in the shadows from restaurants and private homes. And small businesses track down critics who stalk and intimidate those who have escaped China and the allegation is that two have been found in Australia, we have the risk that Chinese police have been trying to operate covertly in Australia without the consent of the Australian government and that of Of course, it is a serious concern Senator James Patterson, the head of our foreign interference committee, the emergence of these police stations is a shocking clandestine incursion, we have to say that our borders are not subject to negotiation, that you cannot come and operate behind our borders. that is the purpose of this that is covert and that is secret the chinese are certainly happy to acknowledge the existence of chinese service stations in the state media in 2018 they proudly announced the opening of the first station in the Sydney financial district along with another 20 around the world.

Currently, the Wengzhou Public Security Bureau has established 20 focal points in 11 cities, including Vancouver, Sydney, Paris and New York. All of these stations were established by the Public Security Bureau, which is the police department of Wenjo City, but it is this list that is really compelling. Because it identifies a second overseas Chinese police station in Australia, it comes from another Public Security Bureau, this one in the city of Nantong, and is extraordinary for the detail it contains the addresses and telephone numbers of 29 other police stations in police abroad established abroad. ground now for legal reasons I can't give you their exact locations, but they are in France, Peru, Canada, South Africa, even New Zealand, but the most alarming item number 17 clearly shows a residential address deep in the suburbs of Sydney, this is what Chinese public security authorities say.

Authorities in China say they have. It is true that they have established such stations in Australia, in Sydney, to be a specific director of the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders using open source material collected from the Chinese website. Last year, Laura's team discovered more than a hundred police stations China proudly claims are designed to provide services to Chinese citizens living abroad, as well as to catch criminals who fled the mainland, but the fact that they were established without the permission of many host countries makes them

illegal

and, in Laura's opinion. a dangerous front for much more the public security bureaus that have been establishing these stations these are actually the police authorities within the People's Republic of China the link between the police stations abroad and the public security bureaus in effect means that the mainland police are running a shadow international police force wherever they want, but according to the

australia

n federal police those chinese police stations are not active here, we don't have that situation in

australia

, obviously it would be completely unacceptable if there was a non police presence declared and unauthorized from China in Australia.

Wouldn't that be completely unacceptable? Great and, um, and if your organization realized it, it would act accordingly. Oh, right, why are there suspicions then that there are two in Australia? Whether they tell us that or not should be very clear. One way or another, and if you think about it, it would be unusual for Australia to be one of the only countries in the world that didn't have any of these sites. Operational documents outside China indicate that this address is one of the secret police. stations in Sydney and while the AFP will not comment, our months of investigation may reveal that this nondescript house is owned by the chief executive of an organization in China that helped establish the world's underground police force.

The Australian authorities did not know they had settled here. We understand that the vast majority of countries targeted by these clandestine Overseas Police Service Centers did not know they had been created, but Victor GAO, a former Chinese Foreign Affairs diplomat, does not know. What's all the fuss about? He maintains that police stations are there primarily to provide the overseas community with the same administrative services that are carried out in China, for example the renewal of driver's licenses. I would say that the demand for such services is very legitimate and very normal, for example. What about a divorce or asset disposal, for example, and the education of school-going children in China?

Having access to the Ministry of Public Security or provincial municipal offices to obtain certificates, for example, to ensure that your daily life is not interrupted is simply unusual, isn't it? and quite singular that China, among all the nations of the world, requires this system. Nobody else needs it. There are no Australian police stations in China. There are no US police stations operating in China to supply. citizens with driver's licenses is completely unnecessary is com is just a skin fee. I hope major countries like Australia and the United States also realize that many services should be provided to Chinese communities news from overseas Chinese police stations It made global news in April this year when the FBI closed one operating in Manhattan.

The researchers did not accept that the services offered were legitimate. Two men have been charged with harassing and intimidating a US resident. The pair have been accused of conspiring to act as agents of the People. Republic of China, Chinese National Police appear to have been using the station to track an American resident on American soil. However, Victor Gal brazenly argues that, in addition to providing administrative support, the Communist Party has the right to track down and return criminals to China from anywhere in the country. The point, Victor, is that you have not been invited to these countries.

You are operating without them knowing. Hey, it's illegal, but B, it's completely unacceptable. If countries cooperate, it is an easy job. If they don't cooperate, then I think you should understand. why sometimes they go to extremes to find out who these criminals are where they are what they have done so what you say Victor is if the host nation doesn't cooperate you will come anyway it doesn't matter well between China and Australia, China and the United States, for For example, such government to government corporations are not in the best shape and are sometimes in difficulties, but the demand for such services still exists and how can that demand be met and also hunt down the criminals?

It would be entirely illegal for a foreign police service to operate any type of liaison office in Australia without the consent of the Australian Government and I am not aware of the Australian Government ever giving consent for them to operate. There is this kind of sense of impunity or Andrew Phelan, who dared to criticize China and invoked its fury, is equally outraged by the discovery that this shadow police force is part of a growing club of Australians who are heavily armed with death threats and defamations. campaigns by Chinese authorities to silence criticism, but Andrew refuses to be intimidated by these dirty tactics and says it is imperative to protect those in China sites the idea is to shake you is to shake your foundations is to make you afraid to intimidate to coerce them You're very good at this kind of thing.

Will it work in my case? No, as we said, the Australian federal police insist that there are no Chinese police stations here, but they agreed to examine the information we have discovered at the Chinese embassy. Canberra also denied the existence of the police stations and dismissed our story as misinformation. Hi, I'm Tara Brown, thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia. Subscribe to our channel now to receive new stories and exclusive clips every week and don't miss our extra

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