New report maps 1,200+ Chinese liaison points still used for diaspora surveillance, including in Canada.

In Brief by Probe International

The Bureau News: China said it shut down its overseas “police stations.” A new Safeguard Defenders report says the opposite: the network expanded. The report identifies 1,247 CCP United Front liaison points in at least 91 countries—including Canada in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa. [See: China’s Overseas Police Network Expanded After Shutdown Claims, Report Says]

According to the report by the Madrid-based human rights group, Chinese authorities formally designate existing community associations — hometown societies, chambers of commerce, cultural groups — as “liaison points.” They sometimes hang a nameplate. Then police, prosecutors, and courts back in China simply plug into them.

Investigative reports in 2022, also by Safeguard Defenders, revealed that Chinese local police had set up at least 102 unauthorized “overseas police service stations” in 53 countries. Located inside United Front-linked community associations, the centers assisted in a campaign that claimed to have “persuaded” roughly 230,000 people to return to the mainland, often through pressure on relatives still in China.

After the 2022 exposés, governments said the stations had been closed. Chinese officials called the reports a hoax and insisted the offices only helped with driver’s licenses and paperwork. What changed in many places was the branding — the police logos came down. The underlying network of United Front-linked associations stayed, and according to the newest Safeguard Defenders report it has expanded.

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