A Spanish NGO says it’s identified two more Chinese police service stations operating in Canada, one of which is in an unspecified Vancouver location while the other’s city is not disclosed..Safeguard Defenders, a self-proclaimed human rights advocacy group based out of Madrid released a new report this week identifying another 48 overseas Chinese police stations in addition to the 54 unveiled in a previous report..The group claims to have identified 102 stations in 53 countries, all of which are operated out of four Chinese jurisdictions: Nantong, Wenzhou, Qingtian, and Fuzhou..The Vancouver station's precise location is not known and it is said to be operated out of Wenzhou, a port city in China's Zhejiang province..Three previously identified Toronto stations are now being investigated by the RCMP, bringing the total number of stations reportedly operating in Canada to five. The city where the fifth station resides is not yet detailed..Chinese officials previously claimed the stations were used for administrative services, such as assisting with driver’s license renewals, but Safeguard says new information shows at least one “illegal persuasion to return” operation run through a Wenzhou-controlled station in Paris..Persuasion tactics allegedly include imposing restrictions on family members and denying the target’s children in China education..Safeguard also claims to have identified at least 80 cases where the Nantong police system has assisted in capture or persuasion to return operations..“This is in addition to already exposed operations in Spain and Serbia,” said Safeguard..“This contradicts PRC authorities’ statements that the stations are merely providing administrative services.”.At least 230,000 Chinese nationals suspected of fraud and telecommunications fraud returned to China as a result of persuade to return operations between April 2021 and July 2022. Safeguard further notes that China claims the returns were voluntary and that not all targets had committed crimes..The NGO has been viciously criticized by Chinese state-affiliated media for being “entirely based on ideology,” while others within the Chinese media sphere suggest it is used by those with capital to satiate the West’s appetite for China smearing and, as a result, provide fertile ground for the execution of Washington’s regime change priorities..Safeguard's director, Swedish activist Peter Dahlin, founded the NGO's previous incarnation in 2009, which operated out of Beijing as the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group (China Action) until 2016 when Chinese authorities shut down the operation, forcing Dahlin to relocate to Madrid.."The organization has inherited the mission of China Action, but with an expanded scope to support the survival and effectiveness of civil society and HRDs in some of Asia's most hostile environments, including China," writes Safeguard..The organization’s current funding isn’t clear, however Dahlin previously said contributions from the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a foundation “dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world,” was crucial for the operation of Safeguard's predecessor, China Action. He also said China Action was funded by the European Union..The NED's co-founder Allen Weinstein told the Washington Post in 1991, “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA,” such as funnelling money into forces working against states deemed adversarial to American endeavours..Dahlin reiterates his organization only received a few hundred thousand dollars from the NED over a five year period, as per a 2017 interview.."Specifically, they [Chinese authorities] wanted me to admit that NED was guiding us, that they were the ones giving orders on what we should do. I think this was partially because it’d fit their narrative, but also because they don’t understand the grant-maker and grantee relationship," he told China Change, an initiative that also received nearly $500k from the NED from 2016-2020.
