Authoritarian Regimes Will Start ‘Copying’ China’s Overseas Police Stations, MPs Hear

A building in a business park in Markham, Ont., is seen on Oct. 31, 2022, one of three locations in the Greater Toronto Area identified by Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders as being among the sites of at least 54 unofficial police stations allegedly run by police bureaus in China. The Canadian Press/Cole Burston

Beijing’s operation of over 100 overseas police stations worldwide—with some allegedly used for transnational repression—has inspired other authoritarian regimes to “copy” such efforts, MPs on the House Canada-China committee heard on March 20.

Expert witness Laura Harth, campaign director for human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders, was asked by Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos at the committee meeting if China was the only country to have established clandestine police service centres abroad. In response, she said while no other authoritarian countries have yet done so, they are starting to learn from China’s experience.