Canada police shut down 'Chinese police stations'
Authorities say the stations were operating in British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario and other provinces and used to monitor and coerce Chinese Canadians.
Police in Canada have shut down so-called "Chinese police stations" that they said served as bases to launch intimidation against Chinese Canadians.
The stations had been operating in the provinces of British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP] on Thursday.
Jody Thomas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security and intelligence advisor, told a committee of Canadian lawmakers that a variety of tactics were used to shutter the police stations.
"The tools used by the RCMP to shut down the police stations, reduce their impact, reduce their credibility, are different in every situation, in every scenario," Thomas said.
"There would be value in our ability to arrest people for them, and those investigations are under way by the RCMP."
However, neither Thomas nor the RCMP reported whether anyone had been arrested to date.
The number of stations was also not disclosed, but last October, it was reported that there were at least two in Montreal and three in Toronto.
There were also reports of at least one station in Vancouver.
Thomas said that in some cases, Canadian citizens are staffing the stations without knowing their true purpose or are doing so under duress.
In a statement to public broadcaster Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the RCMP said that some of the activity it's investigating "is occurring at locations where other legitimate services to the Chinese Canadian Community are being offered."
Coercion claims
Officials said the stations are used to monitor and coerce Chinese Canadians to do their bidding, such as returning to China to face prosecution for "crimes."
In some cases, relatives back in China are threatened with punishment.
The Chinese Embassy in Canada denies the accusations, saying the stations provide assistance for certain things, such as applying for driver's licenses.
The Spanish human rights group Safeguard Defenders alerted the RCMP to the presence of the stations and claimed there are about 100 operating in more than 50 countries.
In November 2022, RCMP said it was investigating possible foreign actor interference, which is an illegal activity, at undeclared "police service stations" believed to be operating on behalf of China.