Move FM Global News

ROME, Italy: The Italian interior ministry has said that after reports that Beijing ran police-like operations outside China, Italy will end joint patrols with Chinese police in its territory.

Spanish rights group Safeguard Defenders said it has evidence of 102 Chinese “service stations” used to pressure Chinese citizens in 53 countries, including 11 stations in Italy.

Chinese authorities have denied the existence of the centers, claiming they are volunteer-run facilities that offer citizens document renewal and other services, which were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told Il Foglio newspaper, “I can say that those forms of cooperation will no longer be practiced or replicated in other forms.”

Earlier this month, he told parliament that the joint patrol pact with China had nothing to do with the establishment of any ‘service stations” in Italy, noting that the joint patrols took place in 2016-2019 and were “suspended” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beijing is using the centers to pressure some Chinese expatriates to return to China to face criminal charges, and are illegal and most likely target dissidents, according to Safeguard Defenders.

Several countries, including Canada, the US, the Netherlands and Germany, have launched investigations into the Chinese centers.