Protest planned at alleged Chinese ‘police station’
RCMP confirmed in December that a national security unit was investigating an alleged Chinese “police station” in Richmond.
A group of protesters plan to express their opposition to alleged Chinese government-affiliated “police stations” in Canada on Friday in Richmond.
A protest outside the Wenzhou Friendship Society building in Richmond is organized by the Hong Kong Defense Initiative, a Facebook group led by Andrew Wagner.
Wagner said he found it disturbing that the Chinese government would set up a police station here in Canada to monitor and harass Chinese-Canadians.
“As a (Canadian) citizen, I find it odd to have foreign police stations in Canada,” Wagner told the News. As a Canadian-American double, he compares it to US government surveillance in Canada.
A Spanish human rights organization, Safeguard Defenders, reported late last year that it had received information about a Chinese police station in Vancouver.
They claim that there are 102 such police stations in 54 countries around the world.
Wagner finds that the CCP government’s rhetoric implies that people of Chinese descent should be beholden to the Chinese government, and this raises questions about Canadian sovereignty.
That’s why he wants to protest peacefully in front of the Wenzhou Friendship Society building on Hazelbridge Way on Friday afternoon.
Wagner will wear a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt at the protest, a symbol of his opposition to the Chinese government.
About four years ago, the Chinese government banned a Winnie the Pooh movie after a man made a meme about the Chinese president comparing him to Winnie the Pooh.
Wagner noted that people from different ethnic backgrounds come to the protest, but said people of Hong Kong background might be reluctant to register on the Facebook page for fear of being identified by the CCP government.
In addition, his friends in Hong Kong have said they are “scared” by the Wenzhou Friendship Center building and find it “creepy and spooky.”
Wagner, who hosts a website for Alliance Canada-HK, said he saw two strange cyberattacks on the site, leading him to believe the Chinese government is harassing those involved in the group through a third party.
Of concern to Wagner is the apparent lack of Canadian police and government resources to investigate foreign infiltration into Canada.
“That bothers me,” says Wagner. “We need more legal tools to deal with this.”
Ivy Li, a Canadian from Hong Kong, said she is pleased that non-Asians are taking action on the issue.
“Foreign infiltration is a national matter. It’s not just a problem of the Chinese diaspora,” she said in an email to the News. “I am so glad that finally an ordinary Canadian citizen like Andrew, who is not Asian, is sufficiently offended by the PRC’s silent invasion of our country’s sovereignty to stand up and take action.”
The RCMP confirmed to Richmond City Council in December that the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team is investigating a suspected Chinese “police station” in Richmond, although they have not provided the location or details.
