CNN
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The Dutch international ministry is “investigating” experiences that China has arrange two purportedly unlawful police stations within the Netherlands.
“We are investigating the actions of those so-called police facilities,” Ministry for Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maxine Hovenkamp stated in an announcement to CNN Thursday.
Hovenkamp added that the ministry was not “knowledgeable about these facilities by way of diplomatic channels.”
China has denied that the facilities conduct police operations.
Dutch broadcaster, RTL Nieuws and Dutch investigative journalism outlet Follow the Money revealed a report on Tuesday claiming that China has opened no less than two police stations within the Netherlands since 2018. The two stations are situated in Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
The stations function beneath the facade of “abroad service stations” the place Chinese nationals can renew their driving licenses and report modifications of their civil standing, in response to RTL Nieuws and Follow the Money.
According to RTL Nieuws and Follow the Money, the Dutch authorities was by no means knowledgeable in regards to the presence of those stations.
Their investigation discovered “sturdy indications” that the branches are getting used to put strain on Chinese dissidents within the Netherlands. One younger Chinese dissident, Wang Jingyu who has been pursued by Chinese authorities for criticizing the regime on social media, informed journalists that he acquired a name from somebody who claimed to be from the Chinese police station in Rotterdam.
“He requested me to return to China to unravel my issues. He additionally informed me to consider my mother and father,” Wenbin stated.
During a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Wang Wenbin was requested to substantiate if China had any police operations within the Netherlands and if he had any response to the RTL Nieuws and Follow the Money reporting.
Responding to those questions, Wenbin stated the allegations within the report have been “utterly unfaithful” and the alleged police stations are “in reality Chinese service facilities.”
“The goal of the service facilities is to assist abroad Chinese nationals in want entry the platform to have their driving licenses renewed and obtain bodily examination,” the spokesperson added.
Human rights group Safeguard Defenders revealed a report in September citing proof of those service stations in a number of nations, which it claims “eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and should violate the territorial integrity of third nations concerned in establishing a parallel policing mechanism utilizing unlawful strategies.”
The report contained a map of greater than 50 publicly documented and labeled abroad police stations which China has known as abroad Chinese “service facilities,” situated throughout the globe. Since it was revealed, the Spanish Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into the service stations and the report’s findings.
Meanwhile, the Dutch authorities say they are going to “determine on acceptable motion” as soon as they acquire “extra readability on the matter,” in response to the assertion.