Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino gave no response when pressed by Conservative MP Michael Chong on what the Liberal government is going to do regarding allegations that communist China is operating unofficial overseas police stations on Canadian soil.
“They won’t allow U.S. officers into Canada to reopen Nexus offices even though we have an agreement and the United States is an ally. Meanwhile, Iranian officers freely come to this country to intimidate Canadians because [the government] won’t list the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], and now we find out that police officers from the People’s Republic of China are operating out of three offices illegally open in Canada, intimidating Canadians.
“So what is the government doing about these illegal police stations in Toronto?”
‘Clear Track Record’
Reports of China’s expanding “overseas police service stations” were brought to public attention after Spain-based human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders published its investigative report last month, titled “110 Overseas: Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild.”“The Chinese communist regime is not in the habit of telling the truth. This isn’t the first time we or the prime minister have heard about Chinese communists harassing Canadians. Is the National Post story accurate, and without the rhetoric, can the prime minister tell us what he’s going to do about it?” Paul-Hus asked.
‘Waiting for Evidence’
Testifying before the parliamentary Canada–China committee on Oct. 4, Weldon Epp, director general for Global Affairs Canada’s North Asia and Oceania Bureau, said that an investigation into the allegations has started.“We are waiting for evidence, not just from media reports, but from operations underway.”
Epp also confirmed there is no bilateral treaty with China that would allow the Chinese police to reside in Canada and open their police stations on Canadian soil when asked by Chong during the meeting.
Aileen Calverley, co-founder and trustee of the human rights advocacy group Hong Kong Watch, who also spoke at the committee meeting, said it is “very shocking” to learn of the alleged unofficial police centres established by the Chinese regime.
“They claim that they just help the Chinese citizens to renew their passports. They don’t need that because they have their own embassy,” she said.
“They use that actually to intimidate the Chinese citizens … [and] to scare them to go back to China to face trial and then threaten their families. But now with the police station actually in Markham, they can intimidate people like us. I’ve been living in Canada for many decades. Now I feel frightened.”