Evidence found about an illegal Chinese police station in Budapest
BBC reported a couple of days ago that Dutch media found evidence the Chinese government established at least two undeclared “police stations” in the Netherlands. Seemingly, there is a similar police station or so-called police service centre in Budapest. One of the Hungarian opposition MPs learned more on the spot.
According to the BBC, “dutch media found evidence that the “overseas service stations”, which promise to provide diplomatic services, are being used to try to silence Chinese dissidents in Europe”. A Dutch foreign ministry spokeswoman said such operations are illegal in the country. Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry rejected Dutch allegations.
Based on a report issued by the NGO Safeguard Defenders, the Chinese government established 54 illegal police stations in 21 countries. They call them police service centres, and most of them are in Europe. According to the list, one is in Budapest, and an opposition MP tried to find out more in the venue.
Márton Tompos (Momentum) went to the address in Kőbánya, the 10th district of Budapest. Later he found another address in Golgota Street (8th district) after reading some relevant articles in the Chinese media. He was astonished to see that there was even a sign on the building saying “Chinese police”. However, those signs disappeared after he started to ask around why they had been displayed in Budapest.
Read alsoChina: an alternative to EU money for Hungary?
Szeretlek Magyarország went there and found a Chinese man. He explained that a man helped Chinese nationals living in Hungary manage their administrative affairs there. For example, he acquired several certifications from China. Allegedly, he put out the “Chinese police” sign. However, somebody told him that was not allowed, so he left the place and replaced the signs.
There are several articles about the successes of the Chinese police station in Budapest. They even name the agents working there. For example, in 2019, Liu Guoyong, an agent of the “overseas police service centre” in Hungary, received an award from Mrs Zeng for solving a robbery case in Budapest.
Another article reported that the Budapest centre invited another group to the Hungarian capital to discuss “police and overseas Chinese affairs”.
A third Chinese article said that China had already established police service centres in 20 countries and 26 cities. They help Chinese citizens with travel and administration issues, but they even investigate crimes and offer help to maintain public security. The coordinative body is the Qingtian County Public Security Office. And one of the officers held a sign identical to what Márton Tompos found when he first visited the Golgota Street “police station”.
In the Netherlands, there is an ongoing investigation into the issue. They assume Beijing tries to track members of the opposition being abroad by using these centres. The Hungarian interior ministry said they did not have information about a Chinese police presence in Budapest.
Here is the video of Szeretlek Magyarország in the issue:
Source: Szeretlek Magyarország, BBC, Momentum FB