The stations were first established in 2014 with the official stated purpose of assisting
overseas Chinese with routine paperwork and liaising with national law enforcement in the countries in which they reside. The
Nantong police department later set up the first "overseas service stations", associated with the phrase "110 Overseas" (), as part of a pilot project in 2016. The department set up offices in six countries and had solved at least 120 criminal cases that involved Chinese nationals, as well as detaining over 80 people in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Zambia. Dutch organizations RTL News and "Follow the Money" found that afterwards,
Wenzhou's
public security bureau established a "contact point" in Sydney, Australia, and the
Lishui public security bureau established two offices in the Netherlands (one in Amsterdam, another in Rotterdam) in 2018. The police agencies of
Fuzhou and
Qingtian counties would set up the most numerous of the offices, with the latter beginning their program in 2019.
Radio Free Asia reported that as of October 2022, a total of 54 such stations had been established in 30 countries. Safeguard Defenders released an initial report in September 2022 and a follow-up in December 2022, alleging that the police stations were part of a program named
Operation Fox Hunt, and were used to harass and coerce individuals wanted by the Chinese government, including dissidents, via threats to their families and themselves, pressuring them to return to China, where they would then be detained. Wang was later found to have fabricated the threats. A broader example was a notice issued by an overseas station operated by the government of
Laiyang in Myanmar, which stated that Chinese nationals who were there illegally should return to China or "there would be consequences for their loved ones", such as cancellation of their state benefits.
Reactions According to
Yale legal scholar and China expert Jeremy Daum, the report contained several factual and context errors. Safeguard Defenders subsequently published a revised report which it said corrected some of the mistakes Daum had indicated.
Chinese dissidents living outside of China found the overseas police service stations threatening.
Investigations by other governments In response, some countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, announced they would investigate the stations.
Australia In November 2022,
Australian Federal Police told a senate hearing that they do not believe that Chinese police are maintaining such a station in
Sydney.
Canada In November 2022, Canada summoned the Chinese ambassador
Cong Peiwu and issued a
cease and desist warning concerning the stations. In March 2023, the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced investigations into two alleged police stations in Quebec. The RCMP concluded its investigation without recommending any charges in September 2025. Two Chinese community groups in the Montreal area have declared they will sue the RCMP if they do not apologize for their accusations of them hosting secret Chinese police stations and are seeking $2.5 million in damages. Maryse Lapointe, the groups' lawyer, called the allegations false and defamatory. Mei Chiu, coordinator of the Chinatown roundtable in Montreal, criticized the RCMP's investigation on these groups for not even asking to talk to the employees, and only interviewing the board members. The groups say they have lost government funding, forcing them to cut back programs such as French language education and support of victims of domestic violence. The RCMP stated broadly: "It is important to note that some of the activity the RCMP is investigating is occurring at locations where other legitimate services to the Chinese Canadian Community are being offered." Canadian intelligence analyst Scott McGregor and journalist Ina Mitchell noted in their 2023 book,
The Mosaic Effect, that
S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a Canadian social services organization headquartered in
Vancouver, British Columbia, that is listed as an "Overseas Chinese Services Organization" by the
Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO), is an example of an organization that provides legitimate services to the Chinese Canadian Community while also working with entities tied to
Operation Foxhunt. In July 2024, the Canadian government announced that it had mapped Chinese police stations in the country would share the information with the
G7 to explore a response.
France In June 2025, French authorities suspended the deportation of a Chinese businessman that the
General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) suspected of operating a secret police station from within a Fujian
hometown association.
Germany In the fall of 2022, the first reports about Chinese police overseas service stations in Germany appeared. At least five stations existed in Germany. In March 2023, politician
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter (SPD) stated that two police stations remain operational in Germany, in violation of the country's sovereignty. She stated that they are run by "people who have good contacts with the diplomatic missions of the People's Republic of China and who enjoy the trust of the Chinese security authorities. They are also involved in Chinese
united front organizations." An investigation of German TV
RTL/
ntv from November 2024 showed that at least four of the stations in Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, München and one in the
Ruhrarea are still active. In 2023, a
ProPublica investigation found that the leaders of "Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station" in
Prato had ties to
organized crime.
Japan In February 2024, Tokyo police raided an overseas police station as part of a COVID-19 fraud investigation. Japanese media reported that an attempt to establish an overseas police station in
Okinawa was rebuffed.
Netherlands The
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that, as the Chinese government had failed to notify the country about the stations through diplomatic means, they had been operating illegally, with further investigation to be conducted into their conduct. Foreign minister
Wopke Hoekstra later ordered both offices to close. The mayor of Amsterdam later announced in February 2023 that the Amsterdam police were unable to locate any police stations in the city.
South Korea and the
Han River seen from
Seoul Subway Line 7 train running across
Cheongdam Bridge. A river-side Chinese restaurant alleged to be acting as an overseas police station is on the far right. In response, the authorities shuttered a Chinese police station at a restaurant on the
Han River and legislators began crafting new legislation to close loopholes in the country's counterespionage laws.
Taiwan In March 2023, Taiwan's
Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) said that a Chinese overseas police station in France engaged in cyberattacks against an OCAC language school in France. In a May 2023 report to the
Legislative Yuan Taiwan's
National Security Bureau (NSB) said that they had identified over 100 secret Chinese police stations around the world targeting the
overseas Chinese community. The covert locations the stations operated from included restaurants, convenience stores, and private homes. The NSB said that it was collaborating with law enforcement in other countries on the issue.
United Kingdom In May 2023, Ruiyou Lin, who runs a
food delivery app in
London, denied that his business was used as the base for a Chinese government "secret police station". In June 2023, British Security Minister
Tom Tugendhat stated that China had closed its police service stations in Britain and that an investigation found no illegal activity associated with the stations.
United States In November 2022,
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director
Christopher A. Wray announced that the FBI was monitoring reports of the Chinese government establishing unregistered police stations in the U.S., commenting that the conduct was "outrageous", violated U.S. sovereignty, and "circumvents standard judicial and law enforcement cooperation processes." In January 2023,
The New York Times reported that according to anonymous tipsters, counterintelligence agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided a suspected station set up by Fuzhou municipal authorities, hosted in the offices of the American Changle Association (named after
Changle District) in
Chinatown, Manhattan, in late 2022. The station reportedly occupied an entire floor. It shuttered after an October 2022 FBI raid. They were charged by federal prosecutors in
Brooklyn (the
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York) with conspiring to act as
unregistered agents of the Chinese government for operating the police outpost in Manhattan, and with
obstruction of justice for deleting messages with an official of the
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) who had been directing their activities in the U.S. U.S. Attorney
Breon Peace said the episode "reveals the Chinese government's flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty"; In December 2024, a Manhattan resident, Chen Jinping, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government in connection with the establishment of an overseas police station in Chinatown, Manhattan raided in October 2022.
Chinese government response Officially, the centers provide services to Chinese nationals outside of China. They are used to renew
driver's license and other documentparticularly during the
COVID-19 pandemicand confront transnational crime, especially fraud. According to Chinese government sources, the centers target illegal or criminal activities affecting overseas Chinese communities. They also provide advice in emergency situations, such as directing callers to local police or
Chinese diplomatic missions. == Locations ==