After Police Stations, China deployed consulates and overseas courts

Chinese Court in Pakistan

After Police Stations, China deployed consulates and overseas courts

The report of Ij-Reportika titled China opening Chinese Police Stations outside its territory gained worldwide publicity. The people and the opposition parties in many countries like the USA, Ireland, and Canada demanded a probe into such police stations. However, China is now employing two more tactics (Chinese consulates and overseas courts) to influence the overseas Chinese, crushing the dissent against CCP in a foreign country and meddling with the democratic processes of the respective countries. Here is an analysis of the same.

Consulates for unethical purposes

China has been at the forefront of using consulates and embassies in foreign countries for its influence operations. Recently, A Hong Kong pro-democracy protester was pulled into Chinese consulate grounds in Manchester on 16th October 2022 and beaten up.

The UK government sprung into action and called the reports extremely concerning, and Greater Manchester Police has launched an investigation. The consulate says protesters displayed an insulting portrait of China’s president Xi Jinping.

Soon after the incident, fake Twitter accounts were created to whitewash the image of Chinese consulates involved in the crime using heavily edited images and video clips.

The people from the Chinese Consulate involved in this horrific crime were
1. Consul General Zheng Xiyuan (leftmost)
2. Consul Gao Lianjia
3. Counsellor Chen Wei
4. Deputy Consul General Fan Yingjie (rightmost)

Previous controversial activities of the consulates

The Manchester incident is not a one-off incident. Following are some of the controversial activities involving Chinese embassies and consulates:

Twitter locked the official account of the Chinese embassy in the United States in January 2021 after a tweet describing Uyghur women as “baby-making machines”. Twitter removed the post later.

Chinese embassy in the Netherlands targeting researchers and think tanks.

Chinese embassy in India threatening Indian media before the “National Day of Taiwan”.

Press release of the Chinese embassy in India

The Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, paid a visit to the controversial Confucius Institute at Ravenswood School for Girls. The ambassador was accompanied by Consul Liu Jianbo from the Education Office of the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney.

The Chinese consulates and embassies also indulge in establishing Legal Service Stations or courts in other countries.

The Legal Service Stations

China is establishing “joint investigation centers for litigation and legal service” abroad. China has opened such courts/legal service stations in several countries under the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).

Chinese overseas associations and its embassies and consulates establish these centers. Even the UK, Spain, and Italy have the presence of these courts. According to reports in several local media channels, they indulge in meddling in the elections, influencing local politics, influencing the youth towards communism, and controlling the dissent against Xi Jinping from outside China.

Unveiling of the Legal Service Station for Overseas Chinese in Dominican Republic.

Pakistan Overseas Chinese Legal Aid Center established under the guidance, supervision, and support of the Chinese Consulate General in Lahore.

Similar to the police stations, every Chinese province has opened such stations in other countries. According to the Chinese state media, China Daily, only the Jiangsu province has established seven legal service centers in Cambodia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Brazil, Angola, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.

These activities are an attack on the sovereignty of the respective nations. Investigative Journalism Reportika strongly urges the governments of these nations to probe these incidences.