A ‘secret police station’ operated by China in a Glasgow restaurant has been closed, it has been reported.
The Loon Fung restaurant, on Sauchiehall Street, was said by human rights group Safeguard Defenders to be one of 54 alleged clandestine bases run by the Communist state across five continents.
Investigative journalists at The Ferret report that the Chinese Embassy in the UK claims it has now shut all of its secret police stations in Britian, after being told by the Government that they were “unacceptable”.
Safeguard Defenders claimed the secret police stations were set up by a Chinese state body to monitor dissidents and to influence foreign politicians.
READ MORE: Chinese 'secret police station' made multiple approaches to Sturgeon
Security minister Tom Tugendhat this week set out the findings of an investigation into the allegations.
In a written statement to parliament on Tuesday, He said the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office told the Chinese Embassy that any functions related to such “police service stations” are unacceptable and that they “must not operate in any form”.
The Chinese Embassy subsequently responded that all such stations have closed permanently, Tugendhat revealed, adding that any further allegations will be “swiftly investigated in line with UK law”.
He explained that UK police visited each of the locations identified by Safeguard Defenders, and carefully looked into the allegations to consider whether any laws have been broken and whether any further action should be taken.
“I can confirm that they have not, to date, identified any evidence of illegal activity on behalf of the Chinese state across these sites. We assess that police and public scrutiny have had a suppressive impact on any administrative functions these sites may have had,” Tugendhat said.
READ MORE: Police Scotland visit Loon Fung restaurant
“However, these ‘police service stations’ were established without our permission and their presence, regardless of whatever low level administrative activity they were performing, will have worried and intimidated those who have left China and sought safety and freedom here in the UK. This is unacceptable.”
The Ferret's investigation revealed that a man linked to Loon Fung met senior UK politicians including Boris Johnson, while he was prime minister.
It also found that organisations linked to Loon Fung repeatedly invited Nicola Sturgeon to the premises while she was first minister, and met with Jeremy Corbyn while he was leader of the Labour Party.
READ MORE: Secret police rumours aside, they make a great Char Siu
In recent months Police Scotland also visited Loon Fung but said no crimes or offences had been identified.
MPs previously called for the stations to be shut down and the people operating them to be kicked out of the country.
In April, US federal agents arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese “secret police station” in the Chinatown district of Manhattan. China said it firmly opposed what it called US “slanders and smears”.
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