“China’s activities in Belgium are not limited to the classic spy stealing state secrets or the hacker paralyzing an essential industry or government department from behind his PC,” the government report reads.
Instead, many Chinese intelligence gatherers engage “in a gray zone between lobbying, interference, political influence, espionage, economic blackmail, and disinformation campaigns.”
The security agency raised concerns about the fact that the Communist regime’s close association with corporate interests in the country makes it extremely challenging to identify potential intelligence assets.
“This makes for a tangled web of interactions, with many state and non-state actors harboring ties with China,” the VSSE states. “This is a game at which China is extremely adept. The hold that the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party exert on companies allows them to make them part and parcel of their long-term strategy.”
Politicians Voice Concern
The findings have sparked concern among Belgian politicians, such as Flemish Member of Parliament Kristof Slagmulder, from the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang party in Belgium’s Dutch-speaking Flanders region.“China is actively expanding a network to ensure Chinese influence in Europe,” he said. “It is therefore not inconceivable that students will also be used for this.”
The Flemish MP called for a probe into the potential role that Chinese students in Belgium could play in CCP espionage efforts. He noted that the authorities frequently overlook this type of Chinese national.
No Chinese Police Stations
In September 2022, a report by Safeguard Defenders stated that agents of the Chinese regime are operating covertly in countries around the world, using secret police stations as a base of operations to surveil Chinese dissidents, and even coercing Chinese expatriates to return to China.The later report showed that there are some 102 overseas China-run police outposts in 53 countries around the world. Some stations were even set up with help from the host countries.
Dismantling the CCP’s Overseas Apparatus
After the emergence of the first report, the regime denied running undeclared police stations abroad, and called the allegations an attempt to smear China’s reputation.But Safeguard Defenders stated that despite the fact that Beijing was not directly in charge of the stations, “some statements and policies are starting to show a clearer guidance from the central government in encouraging their establishment and policies.”
Ireland and the Netherlands have closed the Chinese police stations that were discovered in their countries, and inquiries are being conducted in Spain. Canada has filed official complaints to the Chinese Ambassador over reports of unofficial Chinese police service stations operating in Canada.
According to court documents, the two men who were arrested had operated a local Chinese association that organized busloads of pro-Beijing supporters to travel to Washington and serve as counter-protesters during Xi’s 2015 trip.
“The CCP’s mafia tactics—surveillance, harassment, blackmail, assault, and the persecution of elderly parents, spouses, and children back in China—cannot be tolerated in America.
“The United States must remain a haven from persecution, not a hunting ground for dictators.”