Although the Chinese police have successfully carried out many joint police patrols with their counterparts in European countries such as Italy, Croatia and Serbia since 2016, the upcoming security cooperation with Hungary has made the EU begin to shout "worried" again.
According to reports from Hungarian media "Telex" and "Portfolio", ignoring the repeated clarifications of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, on Wednesday (10th) local time, the European Parliament held a plenary meeting to discuss the joint patrol of the Chinese and Hungarian police in Hungary, and pointed fingers at China-Hungary security cooperation. Margaritis Schinas, the vice president of the European Commission, expressed extreme concern and called the practice "completely unacceptable", stressing that the rule of law and security issues in Europe should not be taken out of the control of European institutions, and threatening to take "tough action" against those who so-called external influencers.
European Commission Vice President Margaritis Sinas screenshot from the official website of the European Parliament
According to Hungarian media reports, the matter should be traced back to February this year, when China and Hungary pledged to deepen cooperation in the field of law enforcement and security, and signed a series of documents to strengthen cooperation in related fields. Germany's newspaper Die Welts later reported that after the agreement was signed, Chinese police would come to Hungary to participate in joint patrols.
On March 6, local time, the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior confirmed in a statement that the police of the two countries will soon carry out joint patrol work to strengthen communication between citizens and authorities of the two countries and improve domestic security and public order. It further explained that the purpose of the cooperation agreement is to ensure the safety of tourist attractions in both countries during peak tourist periods and events that attract large tourist flows.
According to reports, the Hungarian Interior Ministry also added in a statement that the conclusion of such agreements is not unprecedented, and that the Hungarian police and their counterparts in Croatia, Austria and other countries have carried out joint duty work during the tourist season. As for the specific partner cities, the number of police officers involved, peak tourist seasons and specific locations will be determined by the relevant law enforcement agencies in accordance with departmental organizational criteria.
According to a number of Hungarian media reports, the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior had earlier denied the existence of the so-called "Chinese secret police station" in Hungary.
However, the liberal caucus of the European Parliament launched a debate on this matter on the 25th, asking the European Commission to urgently assess whether this activity is in line with the EU's rule of law and security standards, and exaggerate the so-called "China threat theory". The discussions are finally scheduled for a plenary session of the European Parliament on April 10.
At the time of the meeting, Magaritis, vice president of the European Commission and the EU's Commissioner for Promoting European Lifestyles in charge of immigration, said that the news that Hungary had invited Chinese police to take duty in the country was worrying and that Hungary's approach was "completely unacceptable." He said the European Commission was concerned about this and called on member states to take responsibility for law and order in their territories and to take action against violations of the rule of law, but with the help of the EU police and judiciary.
Shinas also declared that the EU condemns all forms of so-called external influence, whether state or economic on the territory of member states, and threatens to take tough action against those who exert it.
He stressed that the rule of law and security guarantees in Europe are the task of European institutions and cannot be separated from their grasp. "We should not allow the security services of other countries to appear on our territory with shields and rubber batons," he claimed. ”
According to Hungarian media reports, Katalin Cseh, a European MP from the Hungarian opposition Power Movement Party, is the initiator of the issue, and he continues to maliciously hype up the so-called "Chinese secret police station", and unjustifiably slandered that the patrol of Chinese police in Hungary means foreign interference in EU affairs and a major threat to EU security, urging the European Commission to make a strong response. She also attacked the Hungarian government for "deliberately opening the door", alarmistically saying that the move had implications not only for Hungary, but also for police cooperation in the European Union.
After the meeting, Gál Kinga, a member of the European Parliament at Fidesz led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, complained that no one at the meeting wanted to link the so-called "Chinese secret police station" with Hungary, except for Katalin Cech, a "loyal representative of the dollar left."
With regard to the lies concocted by the West about the so-called "Chinese secret police station", China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly refuted that this move is completely political manipulation, and that the relevant claim has no factual basis, and there is no so-called "overseas police station" at all. China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in its internal affairs, strictly abided by international law and respected the judicial sovereignty of all countries.
According to the Hungarian media "Népszava" reported on the 11th, the Hungarian National Police Headquarters responded on the same day, saying that the cooperation agreement reached between China and Hungary a few days ago is to create in principle the possibility of carrying out police joint patrols with the Chinese police in the future, and this kind of police cooperation has a long tradition in Hungary.
The response reiterated the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior's statement in March and stressed that the main purpose of the arrival of the Chinese police was to assist the Hungarian police in dealing with the language barriers, cultural differences and other issues faced by Chinese tourists in Hungary. "The Chinese police will not carry weapons or coercive devices in Hungary and will act together with the Hungarian police," the statement read. ”
In fact, China and many European countries have rich experience in law enforcement and security cooperation for many years.
Croatia, a Central and Eastern European country that is a member of both the European Union and NATO, is one of the countries that has cooperated most closely with China's police patrols, and the two countries have carried out four joint police patrols since 2018 to safeguard the safety and interests of overseas Chinese citizens, especially during the peak tourist season. In the summer of 2022, when the epidemic continued, eight Chinese police officers still went to many places in Croatia to conduct a one-month joint patrol with Croatian police officers.
In July 2018, the first joint police patrol between China and Croatia was carried out in the old city of Dubrovnik Photo from Xinhua News Agency
China and Italy launched joint security patrols much earlier. As early as May 2016, the two sides carried out the first joint patrol on the streets of Rome and Milan to assist in dealing with issues related to the safety of Chinese tourists in Italy and to facilitate communication between Chinese tourists in Italy and the Italian police.
Chinese police patrol Piazza di Spain in Rome with Italian police on June 5, 2017 Photo from Vostochny IC
In 2017, for the first time, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau sent personnel and Italian police officers to carry out joint patrols in major tourist attractions in Beijing and Rome, which was the first time that the Italian side sent personnel to conduct joint patrols in China.
Since then, the two sides have continued to send police officers to each other for joint patrols, and Italian police officers have participated in patrols in popular scenic spots in Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Chongqing and Guangzhou.
On July 18, 2018, Italian police and Chinese police carried out a joint patrol mission in West Lake Photo from Oriental IC
China's old friend in Europe, Serbia, started a joint police patrol in 2019. From September to October 2023, nine Chinese police officers conducted a month-long joint patrol mission in Serbia.
On September 25, 2023, the police of the Ministry of Public Security went to Serbia to set off by car The picture is from the Ministry of Public Security of China
Facts have proved that China-EU law enforcement and security cooperation has a long history, and it makes no sense for the EU and some European parliamentarians to take the opportunity to make a big fuss.
Coincidentally, at the end of last year, in order to enhance the confidence of Chinese tourists to travel to Thailand, the Thai government announced that it was considering inviting Chinese police to Thailand to carry out joint police patrols.
The Thai Prime Minister's Office immediately issued a clarification to set the record straight. The Thai side said that the Thai police plan to invite the Chinese police to cooperate in policing, hoping to exchange information on criminals and other aspects to fight crime more effectively. The Thai side also criticized the hype and stressed that it should not be used to "seek political gains".
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