Demystifying China’s “Overseas Police Stations”: Diaspora Governance and the Global Fallout of Domestic Politics

Publication Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

9-2025

Abstract

As China strives to consolidate its stature as a global power, President Xi Jinping has amplified the political weight of overseas Chinese, designating them as ‘grassroots ambassadors’ and ‘public diplomats’ tasked with advancing China’s soft power across host societies. Once a relatively marginal portfolio, overseas Chinese affairs has been elevated into ‘grand diaspora governance’ (大侨务), a sweeping mandate that channels diaspora politics into the service of China’s geopolitical ambitions. However, this politicization of transnational ties has generated profound risks. Chinese migrants increasingly find themselves ensnared in securitising discourses of the ‘China Threat,’ recast as contested figures in the great power rivalry between Beijing and their host states. A vivid illustration is the global controversy over China’s so-called ‘overseas police stations.’ In September and December 2022, the Spain-based advocacy group Safeguard Defenders released two widely circulated reports that claimed to uncover a sprawling network of 102 ‘secret police stations’ embedded in Chinese migrant enclaves across 53 countries. Central to their evidence were publicly accessible WeChat posts issued by law enforcement agencies in key diaspora hometowns (侨乡), especially Qingtian, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, and Nantong. From these sources, the reports alleged that Chinese police had ‘hired’ migrants to operate the ‘stations’ and presented them as ‘sinister’ extensions of authoritarian reach abroad.

Discipline

Asian Studies | Migration Studies | Politics and Social Change | Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance

Research Areas

Sociology

First Page

1

Last Page

22

Embargo Period

9-24-2025

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