Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs ordered a Chinese facility in Dublin to shut down amid allegations that China opened “police service stations” in numerous countries to crack down on critics of the Chinese Communist Party — something China denies.
“The Department noted that actions of all foreign states on Irish territory must be in compliance with international law and domestic law requirements,” an Irish official confirmed, per the Irish Times. “On this basis, the Department informed the Embassy that the office on Capel Street should close and cease operations.”
Known as the Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, the facility opened earlier this year. China claims it was using the office to help with driver’s license renewals, transnational crime, and other administrative matters. A considerable portion of the Chinese population in Ireland reportedly came from Fuzhou City near the southeast coast of China.
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However, critics contend that similar offices had been covertly harassing foreign dissidents who have disparaged the CCP abroad. Recently, the Netherlands opened an investigation into at least two offices of that nature within its country.
Spain-based group Safeguard Defenders’s report titled Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild concluded that China had deployed many facilities akin to the Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station across Europe to facilitate pressure campaigns against critics of China.
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China’s Embassy later verified that “the activities of the office have ceased,” according to the Irish Times. Individuals who relied on the station’s services can now renew driver’s licenses online, the embassy said.
Signage for the office had been taken down earlier this month, but now the Chinese Embassy has confirmed it scrapped operations, per the news outlet.
