The mysteries of Chinese police stations in Italy
102 Chinese police stations in 53 countries, of which 11 (the highest number) in Italy. For Beijing, they serve to assist its citizens in carrying out bureaucratic procedures, but according to the report that brought the network to light, the purpose is quite different and our country is particularly involved. All the details
By September 54 had been identified, now another 48, for a total of 102 Chinese police stations around the world. In our country there are 11 between Milan, Rome, Bolzano, Venice, Florence and Prato, where there is the largest community of Chinese citizens in Italy.
But what are they for?
THE BEIJING VERSION
Beijing does not call them 'police stations' but rather 'service centres' set up in 53 countries to assist Chinese citizens living abroad with paperwork ranging from passport renewal to driving licence.
SAFEGUARD DEFENDERS REPORT
However, Safeguard Defenders, a Spanish non-governmental organization that deals with human rights, has produced a report in which it maps these stations and, unlike the Chinese government, claims that they would be used to monitor and hunt down dissident Chinese citizens against the abroad.
Not only. Once the 'threat' has been identified, it would be repatriated, often by coercive methods.
MILAN "PILOT STATION"
Italy is one of the countries that catches the eye in the report as we read that it is precisely in Milan that the Wenzhou Public Security Office set up a "pilot" station in May 2016.
On August 29, 2019, the document said, China News Service broke news of the May 2016 establishment of a contact point between the police and overseas Chinese in Milan, Italy.
WHERE ARE THE OTHERS IN ITALY
In addition to this, there is a second one in Milan and the others are located in Bolzano, Venice, Florence, Sicily, 3 in Prato and 2 in Rome. Some were opened by the Wenzhou Public Security Bureau and the others by Qingtian and Fuzhou.
According to the website of the Central United Front Work Department (the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China), as of August 2016, the Wenzhou Public Security Bureau had set up 3 contact points between the police and overseas Chinese , adding Paris and Prato. Two years later, in December 2018, China News Service also reported on the establishment by the Qingtian Prosecutors of 6 overseas relay stations in Italy: in Prato, Rome, Milan, Bolzano and Sicily.
JOINT AGREEMENTS AND PATROLS BETWEEN CHINA AND ITALY
On April 27, 2015 – a year after the launch of Operation Fox Hunt (or 'fox hunt', a real campaign organized by Chinese President Xi Jinping to forcibly return the so-called dissenters to China) – the then minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni has signed four bilateral cooperation agreements with his counterpart Wang Yi, including a Memorandum for joint police patrolling "in the context of the fight against terrorism, international organized crime, illegal migration and human trafficking human".
From 2 to 13 May 2016 the first joint police patrols took place in Rome and Milan.
In July 2017, the report continues, then Deputy Interior Minister Filippo Bubbico signed a bilateral security cooperation agreement with a delegation from the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China. The exact content of the agreement has not been disclosed.
In the same year, the second joint patrol followed in four Italian cities, including Naples. "We have exported and promoted the national community police model in Italy," say the Chinese authorities. On December 18, 2017, Angelino Alfano, then Foreign Minister, released a joint statement with Wang Yi in Beijing, applauding the July agreement and the success of the operations.
Following the third patrol conducted in Italy from 28 May to 18 June 2018, the Euro Chinese Daily wrote that “in addition to protecting the safety of Chinese tourists, China hopes to learn from the Naples model and introduce the Chinese community police in Prato”.
On the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the police station in Rome, on 12 June 2018 Giuseppe Moschitta, then Commander of the Esquiline Commissariat and current head of the press office of the State Police, participated "actively".
To date, says the report, despite Italy having the largest number of liaison outposts on its territory, our government "is among the very few European countries that has not yet publicly announced an investigation into overseas Chinese police stations or declared their illegality.”
Sino-Italian joint police patrols were halted in 2020, following the outbreak of the pandemic, but no official announcements have been made on the future state of the security arrangements.
CHINESE CITIZENS IN ITALY AND FORCED REPATRIATION
According to ISTAT data for 2021, there are 330,000 Chinese citizens residing in Italy, making us – writes the Guardian – “a fertile ground for Beijing's potential influence, thanks to the myriad of agreements between the two countries”.
Precisely from here, Safeguard Defenders told the British newspaper, would come an ascertained case of intimidation by the Chinese police which would have led to the return of a citizen who has been resident in our country for 13 years, without going through the legal channels of extradition.
The worker would have been accused of embezzlement and traces of him would have been lost after his return to China. Laura Hart, director of the NGO's campaign, said that the method would involve "initially phone calls, then threats to relatives left in China, finally the use of undercover agents abroad, which can also lead to solicitation and kidnapping practices" .
The association claims that over 210 thousand Chinese would be "convinced" to return home in just one year, but the weekly L'Espresso which had investigated this network claims that only a percentage between 1 and 7% of all wanted Foreigners from China return through official channels. All the others are "persuaded".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/i-misteri-delle-stazioni-di-polizia-cinese-in-italia/ on Tue, 06 Dec 2022 15:00:00 +0000.