French media recently revealed that France’s counterintelligence agencies took action earlier this year to shut down nine secret police stations in the country believed to be linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). French authorities also issued expulsion orders for three Chinese nationals accused of involvement in the network.
The stations allegedly operated under the cover of civil organizations, including hometown associations and chambers of commerce. French officials said the groups were suspected of gathering intelligence, monitoring Chinese communities in France, and helping carry out pressure campaigns against Chinese dissidents living overseas.
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, which cited investigative information from the Ministry of the Interior and judicial sources, the network came to light after an incident in Paris in March 2024. At the time, 26-year-old Chinese dissident Ling Huazhan narrowly avoided being forced onto a flight to China at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
French police intervened before the alleged operation could be completed. The incident prompted a year-long investigation that eventually led authorities to identify a network of suspected CCP-linked outposts operating across France.
Investigators found that the stations were located in Paris and several other major French cities. Some were allegedly concealed within Chinese community organizations, including groups connected to people from Fujian Province.
French security officials believe the purpose of the network was to monitor overseas Chinese communities, collect politically sensitive information, and identify critics of the Chinese regime. These efforts were allegedly connected to so-called “persuasion to return” operations, a term often used to describe campaigns aimed at pressuring Chinese nationals overseas to return to China.
The French Ministry of the Interior said three main figures in the network were Chinese nationals. Two have already been formally expelled from France. A third, Ni Chaowen, appealed the expulsion order against him.
Ni, 57, arrived in France in 2001 and obtained legal residency in 2012. He later ran several businesses involved in clothing, leather goods, and jewelry. In 2023, he became president of the France Fujian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
French officials allege that Ni used the chamber of commerce as a platform to operate an overseas police outpost connected to China’s public security system. During the investigation, police also obtained a photograph of him standing in front of a sign for a “Fuzhou Overseas Police Service Station.” Authorities treated the photograph as key evidence.
At a June hearing before France’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, the public rapporteur recommended that the expulsion order against Ni be upheld.
Le Monde reported that CCP-linked overseas operations are often carried out through individuals or organizations that do not appear to have a direct official connection to the Chinese government. This makes the networks harder to identify and allows them to operate under the appearance of ordinary community or business activity.
The report also pointed to China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which requires Chinese citizens and companies to support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work. The law has long raised concerns among Western security agencies, which worry that Beijing can pressure Chinese individuals and organizations abroad to assist with intelligence gathering or political influence efforts.
France is not the only country to take action against suspected Chinese overseas police stations. In recent years, countries including the Netherlands, Spain, and Canada have shut down or investigated facilities suspected of being connected to China’s overseas policing network.
The Chinese government has repeatedly denied that these stations are used for policing or intimidation. Beijing says they exist mainly to provide routine services to overseas Chinese nationals, such as driver’s license renewals, document processing, and notarization.
However, a growing number of European countries view the stations as a security risk. Authorities are increasingly concerned that such operations may be used for transnational repression, surveillance of dissidents, and intelligence gathering under the cover of community service.
The French case adds to broader concerns about the CCP’s efforts to extend its reach beyond China’s borders. For Chinese dissidents and members of the diaspora, the alleged network underscores the risk that political pressure from Beijing may follow them even after they leave China.
Translated by Patty Zhang
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