Scotland’s First Minister Says Reports of Chinese Overseas Police Stations Taken ‘Very Seriously’

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media during her visit to Buchanan Street Residential Children's Home in Coatbridge, Scotland, on Oct. 24, 2022. Andrew Milligan/PA Media

The reports of unofficial Chinese police stations are “deeply concerning,” Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Thursday.

It comes after human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders published a report on Sept. 13 uncovering dozens of overseas police “service stations” on five continents, including one in Glasgow, Scotland, and two in London.

Responding to a question during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Sturgeon said the matter is being taken “very seriously” and that she has discussed it with Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone.

“I agree these reports are deeply concerning and I want to be very clear that we take them very seriously,” she said.

“Any foreign country operating in Scotland must abide by Scottish law.”

Sturgeon said the government fully supports an individual’s right to freedom of expression, and that the matters in relation to the Chinese police station in Scotland “require to be fully and properly investigated.”

The first minister said she knows that the “police are aware of these reports” after speaking to Livingstone on Wednesday.

She stressed the police remain independent of government, and any investigations would be a matter for the force, but she repeated that the issue requires to be treated “extremely seriously.”

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn said: “We are currently reviewing these reports to assess any criminality in conjunction with local and national partners.”

Loon Fung Cantonese Seafood Restaurant

This overseas police service station programme, piloted by the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau (PSB), is dubbed “110 Overseas” after the Chinese national police emergency phone number.

According to Chinese language reports, Chinese expats can call to access services such as document renewal or to report cases such as fraud to PSB officers in China.

Sturgeon’s statement came after The Times of London on Thursday reported that a spokesman at Safeguard Defenders “alleges one of the outposts is running from 417 Sauchiehall Street in central Glasgow,” which is the home of Loon Fung Cantonese seafood restaurant.

“These stations are not registered, hence they are unknown to their host government. They are operating on foreign soil, using local Chinese residents to carry out duties for the Chinese police,” the publication quoted the spokesman as saying.

The address, along with a phone number, is included in a list of numbers and addresses of 30 “first batch” stations, published in January in a Chinese language news report that was cited in the Safeguard Defenders report last month.

When The Epoch Times rang the restaurant on Sept. 13, one staff member confirmed the “overseas 110,” which has a separate phone number, shared the address. Another staff member said the address was used by the police programme “in the name” only.

The Times of London said on Thursday that a spokesperson for the restaurant “strongly denied” involvement, saying “There’s no secret police here.”

According to The Telegraph, one of the listed addresses in London belonged to an estate agency and another one hosted a food delivery office.

‘Wider Issue at Stake’

Ireland on Wednesday became the first country to confirm it has ordered the closure of a Chinese overseas police station.

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday that it had told the Chinese embassy to close the unofficial station located at a Chinese supermarket in Dublin as “all foreign states on Irish territory must be in compliance with international law and domestic law requirements.”

However, it appears Chinese expats can still access the service online.

Laura Harth, campaign director at Safeguard Defenders, told The Epoch Times on Thursday that there is a “bigger issue of the transnational repression going on and these kinds of illegal transnational policing campaigns.”

“As long as the people that were running the station are still there, as long as there’s not an investigation into how these operations are being carried out, who might be involved, as long as there’s not adequate protection mechanisms for the communities at risk, the problem will continue to exist,” Harth said.

She applauded the Irish government for taking a “great first step” but also urged it to investigate “the wider issue at stake.”