There are indications that there is also a Chinese government “office” in Frankfurt that is used as a police station.
(Photo: AFP)
Berlin The Federal Ministry of the Interior is investigating the suspicion of possible secret Chinese police work in Germany. The reason for this is several media reports that the Chinese government is said to have illegal police stations in several European cities, including allegedly in Germany.
A spokeswoman for the ministry of department head Nancy Faeser (SPD) told the Handelsblatt: “We have the issue in mind and are currently agreeing within the federal government on how to proceed.”
As the non-governmental organization “Safeguard Defenders” showed in a report in September, there are already such so-called overseas police stations (ÜPS) in at least 54 countries worldwide, including Frankfurt and numerous other European cities such as Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam and Vienna.
According to research by the organization, which primarily deals with human rights violations in China, there are signs that these police stations are targeting Chinese dissidents, for example in the Spanish capital.
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“While much of their work involves serving Chinese residents or tourists, the Chinese government itself has provided evidence that a station in Madrid has been actively collaborating with Chinese police to conduct covert and illegal policing operations in Spain,” it said in the report.
The Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws reported this week that corresponding stations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam were used to follow and harass critics of Beijing.
Foreign police forces are generally not allowed to operate in Germany and require approval. If foreign states carry out such operations without authorization, they act in violation of international law.
Greens: Illegal China stations case for the protection of the constitution
The spokeswoman for Federal Interior Minister Faeser pointed out that the Federal Republic had not concluded a bilateral agreement with the People’s Republic of China on the operation of overseas police stations. “The federal government does not tolerate the exercise of foreign state authority and accordingly Chinese authorities have no executive powers on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany,” she emphasized.
The federal government is also working to ensure “that the Chinese diplomatic missions in their activities in Germany move within the framework of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations”.
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Domestic politicians in the traffic light coalition are threatening the consequences if the reports of illegal police work are substantiated. “If there are Chinese police stations in Germany, that is a case for the protection of the constitution,” wrote the chairman of the Bundestag’s secret service control committee, Konstantin von Notz, on Twitter.
The FDP faction deputy Konstantin Kuhle also wrote on Twitter: “The security authorities of the federal and state governments must quickly clarify the form in which China is conducting illegal police work in Germany in order to pursue dissidents.” Autocratic states tried to infiltrate liberal democracies.
The CDU foreign policy expert Jürgen Hardt explained that illegal police actions are “a violation of international agreements”. It was “outrageous that the Chinese dictatorship is so brazenly expanding its totalitarian claim on the Chinese in Germany,” the member of the Bundestag told the “Spiegel”.
Hesse examines a suspected case
In Hesse, the authorities are already checking whether there is a Chinese government office in Frankfurt that is used as a police station. The State Criminal Police Office and the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution are involved in this test, said a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior on Saturday in Wiesbaden. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ) had previously reported on it.
Chinese citizens living abroad have been under massive pressure from the Chinese state for a long time. Chinese critics of the regime living in Germany also report that they are repeatedly harassed by compatriots who work on behalf of the Chinese state.
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An incident in Manchester, UK, also recently caused an international sensation. Employees of the Chinese consulate there used violence against protesters in front of the consulate. As can be seen on several videos, one of the demonstrators was dragged onto the premises against his will by several consulate employees and beaten there. He was only able to free himself with the help of the British police.
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Chinese Consul Zheng Xiyuan, who witnessed the violence and even used violence against the demonstrators himself, justified the action in an interview with Sky News: “He abused my country, my leader (…) it’s my duty ‘ said Zheng Xiyuan. It is the duty of every diplomat, he said.
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