THE Netherlands investigating allegations that Chinese law enforcement began operating in the country without Dutch knowledge and permission to surveil Chinese nationals abroad, the government said on Wednesday.

THE chinese embassy in the Netherlands said he was “unaware” and “not involved” in the alleged offices. “China’s judicial and law enforcement authorities strictly abide by international rules and fully respect the judicial sovereignty of other countries,” he said in a statement.

The Chinese Embassy and investigation announcements came after the Dutch broadcaster RTL New and the investigative journal follow the money released a report on Tuesday (25) on two Chinese offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in addition to the embassy and consulates.

The Dutch government has yet to confirm the existence of these offices, but claims to have never been informed of them, which would make them illegal, according to Maxime Hovenkamp, ​​spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry. “It’s very worrying for us,” she said.

The report adds to a growing body of evidence that the Chinese government mounts overseas operations to intimidate and monitor Chinese citizens. Canadian officials said Wednesday they were investigating similar Chinese operations in the Canadaadding in a statement that the threats to the safety of people living in the country are “very serious”.

“This is really part of a growing transnational campaign to instill the same regime of political terror in China around the world,” said Laura Harth, campaign director for Safeguard Defenders, a human rights group. whose own report last month in the stations to Netherlands spurred investigation by the Dutch media. Chinese law enforcement agencies have established dozens of offices around the world, including New York, Paris, London, Madrid and Torontosays the group.

These Chinese “gas stations” have the dual purpose of assisting the overseas Chinese diaspora with administrative tasks such as passport renewals and bank deposits, and “resolutely suppressing all kinds of illegal and criminal activities related overseas Chinese,” according to a statement from the Beijing government’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which oversees the police.

But under the Vienna Convention, an international pact that China and the Netherlands have signed, administrative matters must be handled by consulates.

According to Safeguard Defenders and Dutch reports, stations in the Netherlands are monitored by police in the eastern Chinese cities of Fuzhou and Lishui, where many of the Chinese diaspora are from. According to reports, the Amsterdam operation has been in existence since 2018 and the Rotterdam operation includes a former member of the Chinese military.

The group described a wider crackdown by Chinese authorities to tackle what it called telecommunications and internet fraud, pressuring overseas Chinese citizens to return home to be continued. Chinese state media reported that between April 2021 and July this year, 230,000 citizens were persuaded to return to face criminal charges.

Human rights groups have said that “persuasion to return” involves directly approaching people or their families in China and that alleged crimes could include political dissent. “It’s such a blatant escalation and violation of territorial sovereignty,” Garth said. “We hope that democratic nations will work together to coordinate these actions.”

Lawmakers in several countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, have expressed concern that the Chinese government is pressuring Chinese citizens overseas, including political dissidents who have sought asylum in these countries.

According to Dutch reports, at least one outspoken Chinese dissident said he felt threatened by Chinese agents claiming to be from overseas offices. Political dissident Wang Jingyu, who fled to the Netherlands after openly criticizing the Chinese government online, said he received death threats for supporting democracy in hong kong.

On one occasion earlier this year, Wang said he received a call from an official claiming to be from the Chinese overseas office in Rotterdam, telling him he should return to China and think of his parents back home.

Wang said he reported the threats he received to the local Dutch police, but still did not feel safe. “I’m afraid of the Chinese government,” he told the RTL, adding that he feared the government would send agents to kill him. “I don’t know in the future what they will do.”