The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has announced its plan to train 3000 foreign police officers in the upcoming year and deploy police consultants and stations to countries in need. Observers criticize this move as exporting authoritarian rule and engaging in cross-border suppression. In recent years, the CCP and some pro-CCP countries have expanded police cooperation, directly deploying police forces locally and even establishing illegal overseas police stations in Western democratic countries, sparking international backlash.
According to the English-language CCP state media China Daily, the “Global Public Security Cooperation Forum” wrapped up its meeting in Lianyungang, Jiangsu on the 9th. The Minister of the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security, Wang Xiaohong, announced during the meeting that the CCP trained 2700 foreign police officers last year and plans to train approximately 3000 more foreign police officers in the next 12 months. They will also dispatch police consultants and set up work stations in “countries in need” to provide guidance on joint patrols and investigations. However, the official Chinese Xinhua News Agency did not mention this plan.
The CCP has not specified which countries will be the target of this training. However, it was reported that some of the key participants in the forum included political figures from countries like Malaysia, Serbia, Myanmar, Zambia, Nicaragua, and Russia.
The “Global Public Security Cooperation Forum (Lianyungang)” has reportedly held three consecutive conferences so far. This year, over 2000 people participated, with over 800 from overseas. The discussions at the conference covered topics such as travel safety, road traffic management, immigration cooperation, and more. The forum also released a “Global Public Security Cooperation Concept Document.”
Former Beijing lawyer and Chair of the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong, Jianping Lai, stated that the CCP’s police force is one of the most effective tools in maintaining its authoritarian rule. They possess sophisticated means and tools for oppressing the population, such as facial recognition technology. Now, the CCP is assuming the role of a teacher of authoritarian regimes, disseminating knowledge on how to maintain stability in authoritarian regimes to countries like Pakistan, Myanmar, and even semi-democratic countries like Malaysia. Normal countries would not seek to learn from the CCP police.
“In normal countries, the police’s role, functions, and responsibilities do not involve oppressing and enslaving the people. The police force is neutral and serves to maintain social order, combat real crime, as well as protect and guarantee the basic human rights and freedoms of the people.”
Shao Ping Wu, a human rights lawyer from China and currently residing in the United States, expressed that having practiced law in China for many years, he understands the CCP’s police well. “The CCP’s police do not possess the most advanced investigative techniques, and even if they do, their training ideals may not be the best. Yet, the CCP’s police are exporting their practices overseas, which definitely does not represent anything positive.”
Wu Ping Shao mentioned that in China, it is widely known that the CCP’s police are the least law-abiding and the most law-breaking department, perpetrating not only abuse of power but also knowledge of the law and its violation. Therefore, when exporting police cooperation, the CCP does not have the conditions for that. The most likely scenario is that the CCP is using this to expand its international influence.
He believes that since the CCP’s police are the least law-abiding and a huge disruptor of the rule of law, their export will likely spread these harmful ideologies, such as suppressing the people, to the countries receiving the training.
“These countries that receive police training may end up with police forces that are just like the CCP’s police. For the CCP, this reduces the international pressure against its wrongdoing.”
In recent years, the CCP has been heavily engaged in police cooperation internationally, ostensibly to assist in maintaining security, dispatching police to some pro-CCP countries. In 2019 and 2023, the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security has sent police to perform joint patrols in Serbia.
The pro-Beijing Hungarian Orbán government reached a security agreement with the CCP in February, allowing CCP police to patrol in that country. This move not only met strong opposition within Hungary but also prompted a backlash within the European Union. In April of this year, the European Parliament discussed the security and human rights concerns imposed by this agreement, and the Vice-President of the Commission and several members expressed their disapproval.
The CCP has established multiple overseas “police stations” (overseas 110) in Western democratic countries to monitor and intimidate overseas Chinese residents. Reports or mentions related to CCP’s overseas 110 have been documented in G7 countries – Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan. The issues of the CCP infringing on other countries’ sovereignty and persecuting Chinese dissidents have sparked international condemnation.
In 2022, the European non-governmental organization “Safeguard Defenders” exposed the CCP’s illegal establishment of “overseas police centers” in multiple countries globally, leading countries such as Germany and the Netherlands to demand the closure of the so-called overseas service stations that the CCP set up secretly within their territories. In December 2022, the Italian government suspended the CCP police’s participation in joint police patrols in their country.
In July 2023, the CCP signed a “police cooperation agreement” with the Solomon Islands, and the two countries upgraded their relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare further urged a review of the security treaty signed with Australia in 2017, prompting Australia’s growing concerns over Beijing’s increasing influence in the Pacific region.
In February of this year, uniformed CCP police suddenly appeared in the remote Pacific island nation of Kiribati, although Kiribati had not publicly announced any agreement on police cooperation with the CCP.
To counter the CCP’s strategic ambitions in the region, during the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum held in Tonga in August, Australia and leaders from the Pacific region jointly announced a regional policing initiative strongly advocated by Australia to enhance security coordination in the region. Canberra pledged to invest 400 million Australian dollars over the next five years to improve the policing capabilities across the region.
According to CCP state media, the export of police training to other countries is intended to create a so-called “global public security community.” Pro-Beijing Hong Kong media described it as the CCP’s intentional role in playing a significant role in global security and undermining the US-led security order.
Chinese-Canadian writer Xue Sheng stated that the CCP is a typical evil communist authoritarian regime. Whether it’s the military or the police, they are tools used to oppress the people. By training police in other countries and setting up legal workstations abroad, the CCP is essentially extending its authoritarian rule internationally, engaging in cross-border suppression, and spreading terrorism to other parts of the world.
On September 5th, Xi Jinping, the leader of the CCP, announced at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing plans involving a massive aid package exceeding 360 billion RMB, with mentions of assistance for training 6000 military personnel and 1000 police personnel in Africa.
Xue Sheng expressed that the CCP is willing to export the so-called “community of shared future for mankind” communist ideology at any cost to expand its influence and discourse internationally. However, democratic countries participate in international projects with accountability to their people, requiring budget approvals, unlike the CCP that operates without restraint.
He also pointed out that during Mao Zedong’s era, despite the millions of deaths during the three-year famine, the CCP did not cease foreign aid because international relations were more vital to it. With Africa being the CCP’s biggest voting bloc, there are currently 54 United Nations member states in Africa, out of approximately 200 countries globally. By controlling Africa, the CCP controls the United Nations, and all UN agencies have been deeply infiltrated by the CCP, such as the International Criminal Police Organization, where the CCP’s Meng Hongwei once served as the chairman.
According to CCP state media, Interpol President Jürgen Stock also attended this year’s “Global Public Security Cooperation Forum” and made a speech.