Paper: GS – II, Subject: International Relations, Topic: Global Issues, Issue: China Policing Network Overseas.
Context:
China has been expanding its policing network overseas through various initiatives, including joint patrols with foreign countries and the establishment of “service centers” for Chinese citizens abroad.
Key Takeaways:
Joint Patrols:
- China-Croatia Agreement on Police Cooperation (2017): Under this agreement, Chinese and Croatian police officers conduct joint patrols to address the safety concerns of Chinese tourists in Croatia. In 2024, 250,000 Chinese tourists visited Croatia, a 41% increase year-on-year. These patrols operate in cities like Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Zadar.
- Other European Nations: Similar joint police patrolling initiatives have been launched with Serbia, Italy, and Hungary as part of China’s ‘Sky Net’ project.
- Serbia has conducted three month-long patrols in 2019, 2023, and 2024.
- In Hungary, the Qingtian County Public Security Bureau has created ‘police service centers’.
- Italy suspended joint police patrols due to concerns surrounding the creation of Chinese ‘service centers’.
Service Centers:
- Netherlands: In 2023, it was discovered that China operated two “service stations” in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
- These centers were claimed to assist overseas Chinese nationals with services like renewing driving licenses and receiving physical check-ups.
- United States: In April 2023, the FBI arrested two operatives from a similar “service center” affiliated with the MPS in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
- They were charged with conspiracy to act as agents of the PRC government and obstruction of justice for destroying evidence of their communications with an MPS official.

China’s Aims and Concerns Regarding Overseas Policing:

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