Chinese Police Stations in Canada, Hidden or Present?
by Julia Chlon, Christina Park, Baren Fruite, Fredrica Ma, and Rain Trozzi
3 Chinese police stations have been identified in Toronto, under the guise of being public institutions. While upon investigation, China has been maintaining that these stations are only to help expatriates with administrative services including driver’s license renewal, evidence such as the Safeguard Defenders report portrays suspicious activity such as coercing Chinese people to return to China.
As Chinese government websites have referenced these police stations in Toronto as part of the 110 Overseas public services, undoubtedly, these stations exist, 110 being the Chinese equivalent of 911. These sites have been portraying these services as good news, telling Chinese people in trouble to call the police.
According to YorkBBS.ca, a Chinese news website, the list of overseas service stations of Fuzhou Police and Overseas Chinese Affairs shows 30 overseas service stations established in 21 countries including France, Spain, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The three in Canada were in the Greater Toronto Area, specifically in Markham, Greater Toronto and Scarborough.
So far, the RCMP has investigated the three addresses in Toronto, one being a private residence, the second a shopping mall, and the third a registered non-profit organization. RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme also told the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that illegal activities under the Chinese police stations have been “shut down.” As of today, there have been no arrests reported.
The Safeguard Defenders have also released a report stating that between April 2021 and July 2022, the Chinese police persuaded 230,000 fugitives to return to China “voluntarily.” Safeguard Report says that the police stations coercing Chinese people to return to China, by using surveillance and harassing family members at home.
One case of this details how on March 11, 2022, Li Qingqing who lives in the Yuanzhuang township was asked by the Yuanzhuang police to return to China from Cambodia. When she denied it, the police informed her that her mother’s house would be cut off from power and water supplies, while later her house was spray-painted with the words, “House of Telecom Fraud.” Yet, this is not the only incident that the Chinese media reported on with similar cases.
So far as the Toronto Sun reports, two men have been charged and arrestedwith operating a secret Chinese police station in New York City. While in the US, a legal requirement exists that anyone acting for a foreign government within American borders must register their activities, in Canada this is not the case.
On our visit to the Markham Police Station, Unit 202 Toronto, we found the building closed, but there was a poster labelled with the logo, “Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association.” Glimpsing into the building, the same logo was on the wall, with the Canadian flag and the Chinese flag opposing each other. It was not evident that this was a police station. It is notable that the leader of the organization, Mingnong Xue, is also associated with the Communist Party.
We also called the Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association, but when asked if they could answer a few questions, they declined.
While interviewing residents in Toronto to see how they felt about a foreign police service operating within their city, one said that “there should be open discourse with Canadians that this is a problem and that “there should be a foreign registry.” Another said that “the government should be more vigilant.”
As we look at and investigate these stories, Chinese police stations remain in Canada. According to the RCMP, these police stations have been shut down. However, without reports of arrests or details of the investigation, and the lack of accountability by the Canadian government such as a foreign registry, there is no guarantee that these services are being propagated elsewhere. Chinese police stations operating undercover within our borders is a violation of our citizens’ rights. As well, with Chinese police stations operating across the world, this becomes a human rights issue.
