Editors’s note: During Interpol’s 92nd General Assembly, China Watch, Sino Euro Voices e.V., and China Democracy Party UK Headquarters organized a conference on November 5. in Glasgow together to discuss the problems and the future of Interpol. Below is Tienchi Martin-Liao’s speech.)
Interpol, established in 1923, is a century-old organization that plays an important role in maintaining global security and peace. The main mission of this cross-border organization is to combat terrorism and transnational crime. Additional focuses include crimes against humanity, murder, fraud, corruption, money laundering, child sexual abuse, human trafficking, environmental crimes, and drug trafficking.
The organization must remain politically neutral and must not intervene in disputes of a political, military, religious, or racial nature.
The purpose of Interpol is „lofty, “ though it still has many loopholes
Taiwan was forced to retreat and replaced by China
In 1984, the Interpol General Assembly admitted China as a member, and the membership of Taiwan, the Republic of China, was replaced by China. This was an unfair move. Taiwan is a democratic country with the ability and willingness to provide professional skills and concrete actions to contribute to the organization. China is a socialist autocratic country that lacks the rule of law. It is a major mistake of the organization to invite wolves into the house and replace good with evil.
China is doing the opposite against the mission of Interpol
China, under a one-party dictatorship, is not a country ruled by law. The Constitution and other laws are in name only, and basic human rights are not guaranteed. Human trafficking, environmental crimes, and child sexual abuse are serious in China. Corruption and fraud are extremely common. Building concentration camps in Xinjiang, “boarding schools” in Tibet, and “crimes against humanity” and “cultural genocide” in southern Mongolia are Beijing’s nationality policy. Xi Jinping’s “anti-corruption campaign” has been going on for many years. He has made high-profile statements about „fighting tigers and flies together“ and „putting power in a cage.“ These are empty promises and political tools to eliminate political opponents. He has destroyed the CCP rules, amended the constitution, and has been re-elected for three terms. The „national security law“ was induced into Hong Kong, destroying the rule of law and the original democratic parliamentary system there. Many democrats, congressmen, and lawyers were imprisoned.
Interpol’s president imprisoned
In the past, Chinese representatives have served as vice chairman and members of the executive committee in Interpol, and an Interpol conference was held in Beijing in 1995. In November 1916, Meng Hongwei, was elected as the chairman of Interpol. In September 2018, he was arrested when he returned to China. In October, he resigned from Interpol. In the same month, his qualification as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference was revoked.
On March 27, 2019, China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Meng Hongwei would be expelled from the party and dismissed from public office. The notice stated that Meng Hongwei “has no party spirit, no organizational concept, does not report personal matters by regulations, and resists the organization. Refusing to implement the decisions of the Party Central Committee; having a severe idea of privilege, using public power for private purposes, abusing power, squandering state assets to satisfy the family’s extravagant life; having a corrupt family tradition, using the influence of his position to obtain a position for his wife.” 1)
After Meng Hongwei was imprisoned, his wife claimed that he was subject to political persecution. She and her children were granted political asylum in France. The Chinese official accusations against Meng were that he was taking bribes. From the wording of the Discipline Commission, he was not obedient to the CCP.
In January 2020, the Tianjin No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to 13 years and 6 months and imposed a fine of RMB 2 million.
After being sentenced, he gave up his appeal.
Interpol has a very embarrassing position:
- It should never happen that Meng became the head of Interpol. He served as deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Security for 12 years in China. How can a politician from an authoritarian country lead an important organization of the free world?
- Does Interpol know why Meng became a victim of the power struggle in Beijing’s muzzy political scene? Does Interpol know who Meng was? Interpol endured the Beijing regime to throw its chairman into jail for 13 1/2 years, what a farce, what a huge scandal!
Using Interpol to fight so-called economic criminals
China often submits “Red Notices” to Interpol. An overview of the “Hundred Persons” published online shows that all of them are economic criminals. However, a lot of information shows that many people are innocent. This is an abuse of power by the Chinese Communist regime to eliminate some dissidents and, at the same time, seize the opportunity to confiscate the properties of some wealthy individuals. 2)
A few days ago, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported the case of Li Chuanliang, former deputy mayor of Jixi City, Heilongjiang. Li left China in November 2018 and went to the United States. In February 2021, China issued a red order to Li through the International Interpol organization, charging him with the “crime of corruption and bribery.” Before this, the Chinese police issued an order in September 2020, and his family and friends were arrested by judicial institutions in China. Li Chuanliang said he had no corruption, and his money was made by business. He criticized the Chinese government abroad for the wrong policy in fighting against the pandemic. Li Chuanliang’s American lawyer Michelle Estlund, immediately appealed to Interpol, and subsequently, it suspended its execution. Li was the victim of the Chinese government abusing Red Notice, and the (Heilongjiang) government wanted to seize his money.
According to Japanese lawyer Wu Lei, he has had six cases of entrepreneurs handled by Red Notice, all of which are judicial injustices.
Lawyer Estlund also said that there were 25-30 people who asked her because of Red Notice, and her agent requested 7-10 cases of revocation of Red Notice. She said that there are two categories of Red Notice cases from China. One is Li Chuanliang, who showed dissent to the government, and the others are cases with online enterprises. She said, “We can often prove that the charges of the Chinese government when applying for Red Tong are fabricated or extremely exaggerated, or their evidence is often unsupported. Many of the victims are economically or commercially successful, and their property has been robbed by the Chinese government. She pointed out that the Chinese government’s abuse of Red Notice is even more serious compared with Russia, Venezuela, and Turkey.3)
In March 2015, the CCP launched Operation Skynet (tianwang) to hunt down fleeing party members and corrupt officials. On April 22, the Interpol China National Central Bureau announced 100 fleeing state officials suspected of committing crimes, almost all of whom were economic criminals involved in corruption.
In addition to Skynet, China also has the “Chasing Fox Hunt 2014“(liehu2014 ), which officials said was only implemented for less than a year and retreated more than 9,000 people from more than 120 countries.
Skynet’s annual work report showed good results:
In 2014, 2566 people were repatriated, and 37 from the red notice.
In 2015, 4,058 people were repatriated, and 52 from the red notice.
In 2016, 1,032 people were repatriated, and 19 from the red notice.
In 2018, 4141 people were repatriated, and 52 from the red notice.
In 2019, 1,634 people were repatriated, and 4 from the red notice.
In 2020, 1,421 people were repatriated, and 28 from the red notice.
In 2021, 1,114 people were repatriated, and 16 from the red notice.
(As of June 2021, “Skynet” has repatriated 9,165 people from 120 countries, of which 60 are from the red notice.
In 2023, 582 were repatriated, and 25 from the red notice. 4)
It seems that the overseas pursuit has been quite effective, and through the cooperation of Interpol, great achievements have also been made.
Use force to hunt down dissidents
According to an investigation by the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders, Operation Fox Hunt did not only last for one year as officially stated. It expanded its operations overseas and suppressed and hunted dissidents across borders.
On November 10, 2020, the Canadian Intelligence Service (CSIS) issued a warning that Operation Fox Hunt was targeting Chinese dissidents in Canada. Refugee lawyers Richard Kurland and Lorne Waldman confirmed that these fox hunters put pressure on their refugee clients. 5)
On October 28, 2020, the FBI indicted 8 people for participating in “Fox Hunting” in the United States, and 5 others were arrested. Because they harass and threaten dissidents in the United States.
The notorious „overseas service station“ or Overseas 110 is established by China’s Ministry of Public Security around the world. Those stations are especially active in the US and Canada as well as in Europe. Their main function is to monitor, intimidate, and harass the Chinese dissidents. 6)
Hong Kong’s National Security Department announces red notice persons
China’s national security law came to Hong Kong in July 2020, the city’s rule of law and democratic electoral system have been then eroded until they completely disappeared. Hong Kong is now acting entirely by Beijing’s baton. On July 3, 2023, the Hong Kong National Security Department announced a reward of HK$1 million per person for 8 overseas Hong Kong residents, and 5 more were added on the 14th. 7)
Three of them are listed below:
Yuan Gongyi: Charge: colluding with foreign countries or overseas forces to endanger national security and subvert state power.
Fok Ka Chi, Johnny Fok: Charge: inciting secession, inciting subversion of state power
Choi Ming Da, Tony Choi: Charges: inciting secession, inciting subversion of state power
Sino Euro Voices held a seminar on international issues in Berlin last week 8). The above three “red notice persons” are our distinguished guests. Today, two of them are here. Mr. Yuan is in the United States due to today’s US election, otherwise, he would be here.
From July 2020 to August 2023, Tony Choi and Johnny Fok jointly operated a channel called “Tuesday Road/ Tuesday Road Daily” on social media to support Hong Kong’s “anti-extradition” movement. Speak up and call for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. They were accused by Chief Superintendent of the National Security Department Li Guihua: “Both Fok Ka Chi and Choi Ming Da opened channels and posted videos on social platforms. Fok called on people to join and organize the army, advocated Hong Kong independence, etc., while Choi advocated receiving military training in foreign countries to overthrow the Hong Kong government. “ Therefore, they were charged with “inciting secession and subversion of state power.” Fok and Choi left Hong Kong on July 13, 2020. Now they live in northern England and continue to host their channels.
We raise a question: Placing Choi and Fuk on the “red notice“ violates the purpose of Interpol, what has Interpol done to counter this violation?
Conclusion: The Chinese government has not gone as far as the Russian government to kill the dissidents in exile. However, it abused its power and issued “Red Notices” randomly, which violates the purpose of Interpol. It should be warned and sanctioned. If it does not change, it should be expelled from the membership.
Notes：
1）http://news.wenweipo.com/2019/03/27/IN1903270061.htm
2）https://x.com/RFA_Chinese/status/1531693238658011136
3) https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/wy-li-chuanliang-corruption-followup-10302024115530.html?encoding=traditional
4）https://www.gov.cn/lianbo/bumen/202404/content_6947048.htm
5）https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E7%8C%8E%E7%8B%902014%E4%B8%93%E9%A1%B9%E8%A1%8C%E5%8A%A8
6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_police_overseas_service_stations
7）https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_tc/06_appeals_public/nsc/index.html
8) https://sinoeurovoices.com/news/19750
