カナダにも中国「警察署」 現地警察が捜査

【オタワＡＦＰ＝時事】カナダの国家警察に当たる王立カナダ騎馬警察（ＲＣＭＰ）は２７日、国内に中国が法的に認められない「警察署」を設置し、同国に居住する中国人を悩ませているとの通報を受け捜査していると発表した。（写真はカナダ国旗）
　複数の現地メディアが今週、スペインの人権団体「セーフガード・ディフェンダーズ」の報告を引用し、世界各地に５４の「警察署」があり、カナダのトロント都市圏にも３か所設置されていると報じていた。
　中国は違法行為を否定し、こうした施設は国外在住の中国人に運転免許の更新などのサービスを提供しているだけだと主張している。
　ＲＣＭＰはＡＦＰの取材に電子メールで回答。いわゆる「警察署」に関連した犯罪行為の報告について捜査しているとして、「ＲＣＭＰはカナダ居住者の安全に対する脅威を極めて深刻に受け止めている。外国がカナダ国内のコミュニティーや個人を脅迫したり危害を与えたりする可能性があることを認識している」と述べた。
　セーフガード・ディフェンダーズによると、中国警察はこうした「警察署」を利用して外国で警察活動を実施。刑事責任を問うために中国人を帰国させるべく圧力をかけている。
　同団体が９月に発表した報告書によると、「警察署」は標的の追跡も行っており、中国政府が認めているよりも「はるかに悪質で完全に違法な目的を遂行している」。２０２１年４月～２２年７月には、外国在住の標的または中国国内に残るその家族を脅迫したり、嫌がらせをしたりすることで、主にアジア諸国から計２３万人を帰国させたとされる。
　在カナダ中国大使館は「警察署」について、「中国の警察官ではなく現地のボランティア」が勤務し、運転免許更新の際の視力検査などを補佐していると説明。「犯罪捜査や関連活動には一切関与していない」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/10/28-12:56）

Canadian federal police said Thursday they are investigating reports that China has set up illegal police stations in the North American nation and harassed Chinese expatriates.
Several local media, citing Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders, reported this week that the police posts in a residential home, a single-storey commercial building and a convenience store in the Toronto area are among 54 worldwide.
China, however, denied accusations of illegal activity, saying the locations simply offer services -- such as driver's license renewals -- to Chinese nationals abroad.
In an email to AFP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it was investigating reports of criminal activity in relation to the so-called 'police' stations.
The RCMP takes threats to the security of individuals living in Canada very seriously and is aware that foreign states may seek to intimidate or harm communities or individuals within Canada, it added.
The Netherlands has launched a similar probe.
According to Safeguard Defenders, the police stations have been used by Chinese police to carry out policing operations on foreign soil, and pressure Chinese nationals to return to China to face criminal charges.
In a September report, the NGO said the stations serve a far more sinister and wholly illegal purpose than Beijing has acknowledged, including tracking and pursuing targets.
It said a total 230,000 Chinese nationals were returned to China, mostly from countries in Asia, through these methods, which included threats and harassment to family members back home or directly to the target abroad, between April 2021 and July 2022.
A recently unsealed indictment in the United States in a case of foreign interference against seven Chinese nationals described an example of a person accused of embezzlement and living in Canada who was in 2018 pressed into returning to China, and eventually went despite initially not wanting to go back.
The Chinese government coordinated some of the US operation from Toronto, it is alleged in the court documents.
Canada's public broadcaster, meanwhile, said a journalist and rights activist who moved to Canada from China in 1989 claimed to have been repeatedly targeted by Chinese officials online.
Now the Chinese police station (is) here, just a few kilometres from me, so I am asking myself, where else I can escape to, the activist, Sheng Xue, told CBC.
China's foreign ministry said the reports were completely false. Spokeswoman Mao Ning added that its public security agencies strictly abide by international law and fully respect the judicial sovereignty of other countries.
China's embassy in Ottawa said these offices are staffed by local volunteers, and not Chinese police officers, who assist with eye exams for their driver's license renewal, for example.
They are not involved in any criminal investigation or relevant activity, it said in a statement.