China accuses Canada of smearing reputation over alleged secret police stations | 24CA News
China on Friday accused Canada of smearing its repute over allegations China is secretly working two abroad police stations in Quebec.
Canada ought to “stop sensationalizing and hyping the matter and stop attacks and smears on China,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning mentioned at a every day briefing.
“China has been … strictly abiding by international law and respecting all countries’ judicial sovereignty,” Mao mentioned.
The spokesperson didn’t touch upon the existence of the police stations or whether or not they have been operated by Chinese authorities authorities.
Canadians of Chinese origin have been victims of actions carried out by the stations, Sgt. Charles Poirier of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mentioned Thursday.
Canada is not going to tolerate any kind of intimidation, harassment or concentrating on of diaspora communities, Poirier mentioned.
The RCMP’s Integrated National Security Team has opened investigations into the suspected police stations in Montreal and Brossard, a suburb simply south of the town, he mentioned.
The Spanish human rights group Safeguard Defenders says China has scores of such stations throughout the globe, together with within the U.Okay. and the U.S.
In a report final September, it mentioned the stations have been used to “harass, threaten, intimidate and force targets to return to China for persecution.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has beforehand described the international outposts as service stations for Chinese people who find themselves overseas and need assistance with bureaucratic duties corresponding to renewing their Chinese driver’s licenses. Such citizen providers are usually carried out by an embassy or consulate.
Beijing has launched twin multi-year campaigns to carry suspects wished principally for financial crimes again to China, however says its brokers abroad function consistent with worldwide regulation. U.S. authorities say that has not all the time been the case.
The outposts have fueled world considerations that the ruling Chinese Communist Party is searching for management over its residents overseas, usually through the use of threats in opposition to their households and welfare, whereas undermining democratic establishments abroad and gathering financial and political intelligence.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly mentioned Thursday considerations over international interference have been behind Canada’s refusal to challenge a diplomatic visa to a political operative for China final fall.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned the presence of Chinese police stations in Canada “concerns us enormously.”
“We’ve known about the (presence of) Chinese police stations across the country for many months, and we are making sure that the RCMP is following up on it and that our intelligence services take it seriously,” Trudeau instructed reporters in Ottawa.
Canada-China relations nosedived in 2018 after China jailed two Canadians on allegedly trumped-up fees shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief monetary officer of expertise big Huawei and the daughter of the corporate’s founder, on a U.S. extradition request.
They have been despatched again to Canada in 2021 on the identical day Meng returned to China after reaching a take care of U.S. authorities in her case.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
