Secret police hubs shut

The Chinese embassy in London has closed down several unofficial police stations operating in the UK after a government investigation into their ‘‘unacceptable’’ presence.

Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, told MPs that officials had completed an inquiry into four sites secretly set up in Glasgow, Belfast, Croydon and Hendon, northwest London. He said the investigation, which began late last year, had not revealed any illegal activity, but suggested that press coverage and a police inquiry ‘‘had a suppressive impact’’ on China’s intended use of the sites.

Tugendhat said the Chinese embassy had not sought permission to establish the stations and that their presence ‘‘will have worried and intimidated those who have left China and sought safety and freedom in the UK’’.

The presence of dozens of secret Chinese police stations around the world was first publicised in a report by Safeguard Defenders, a Spanish non-profit human rights organisation, last September. It alleged that the sites were linked to the harassment and intimidation of Chinese dissidents.

The Chinese embassy has maintained that the UK sites were set up to assist Chinese citizens with basic administrative tasks, such as renewing their driving licences, and previously said the venues were ‘‘provided by local overseas Chinese communities who want to be helpful’’.

Ministers and officials were confident that the British sites would have pursued more sinister functions had they not been exposed relatively soon after they were established.

The National Security Bill, which is going through parliament, would give the police and security services the power to take action against intimidatory behaviour by states. Tugendhat said the bill, which is in its final stages in the Lords, would cover ‘‘coercive’’ activities such as those carried out by Chinese secret police stations in the US. –