The Chinese Police Organisation at Home and Abroad

Cover photo: © : Zongnan Bao / Unsplash
Cover photo: © : Zongnan Bao / Unsplash

Efforts of Chinese police to build connections in foreign countries have been growing for decades, but the issue reached peak salience in the Netherlands in 2022 when local news media reported that Chinese “police service stations” were operating on Dutch soil. That fall, news organizations around the world were pursuing stories that highlighted the findings of a report authored by a human rights non-governmental organization (NGO), Safeguard Defenders. The report presented evidence of Chinese police service stations in at least 29 countries across five continents, sparking concern among some governments about the purpose and intent of the stations.

This report by Suzanne Scoggins, Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University, provides insight into the functions and purpose of the overseas police stations and delves further into the role of Chinese policing efforts in the Netherlands and abroad. It provides an overview of the relevant history of policing in China, outlines the current organization of policing groups under the Ministry of Public Security, and explains the different security organizations within the Chinese government that interact with the police. Finally the report highlights three case studies of Chinese policing efforts abroad, in South Africa, Italy and the United States.

Nederlandse vertaling

Dit rapport is vertaald door een vertaalprogramma. Mogelijk staan er nog vertaalfouten in.

LeidenAsiaCentre

The aim of the LeidenAsiaCentre is to generate academic knowledge on modern East Asia that can find societal applications in the Netherlands. The LeidenAsiaCentre focuses primarily on East Asia: China (including Taiwan), Japan, Korea and Singapore, but is expanding its focus to include South and Southeast Asia, notably India and the Indo-Pacific. As an independent NGO by Dutch law, the LeidenAsiaCentre identifies topics related to social-economic and political developments within Asia that are of relevance for the Netherlands and Europe at large.