How China’s police are ensnaring thousands of suspects abroad

America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has a Web page called The China Threat. It is often updated with links to news about the bureau’s efforts to counter it. Top of the list is the FBI’s investigation of a Chinese balloon

that was shot down by an American fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Feb 4.

But if you look closely, there are plenty of other startling areas of Chinese subterfuge and surveillance. Among the most surprising is China’s pursuit of fugitives beyond its borders. The scale of activity globally is now staggering – involving many thousands of alleged miscreants – and it is increasingly straining relations with the West.

Police forces everywhere try to enlist the help of counterparts in other countries in nabbing those on the run. But China often skirts formalities. Last October, Mr Christopher Wray, the FBI’s director,

accused China of “interfering with our independent judiciary,

violating both our sovereignty and the norms of police conduct to run lawless intimidation campaigns here in our backyard”. Since 2020, the FBI has charged 16 people, most of them Chinese citizens,

with involvement in such activity.

“We’re seeing the Chinese government resort to blackmail, threats of violence, stalking and kidnappings. They’ve actually engaged criminal organisations in the US, offering them bounties in hopes of successfully taking targets back to China,” said Mr Wray last year.