WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray following disturbing reports that the Chinese Communist Party is running illegal police operations on American soil. In his letter, Senator Scott demands immediate action and coordination between the FBI, State Department and local law enforcement to end these illegitimate and illegal operations and provide the American people with full transparency on the threats posed by Communist China’s “overseas police service centers.”

Read the full letter HERE or below.

Dear Director Wray:

I write to you today regarding the troubling reports of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) running illegal police operations on United States soil. Recent reports by the human rights non-governmental organization Safeguard Defenders revealed shocking evidence of Communist China carrying out illegal, transnational policing operations across 53 countries, including the United States, targeting overseas critics of the CCP for harassment, threats against their families in China and "persuasion" to get them to return home. 

According to the recently updated report, Chinese police are currently running at least 102 "overseas police service centers" in foreign countries, including in New York City. Established under the guise of helping Chinese nationals living abroad with administrative paperwork and travel, the stations operated by CCP front groups are actually helping to track and return Chinese nationals to China for criminal prosecution. 

These extraterritorial police actions by the CCP violate United States sovereignty and pose a grave threat to our national security.  I ask that you notify state and local law enforcement agencies of the presence of these rogue operations by CCP-affiliated groups in our country. In addition, I urge you to work with the State Department to identify and publish on a publicly accessible website a list of countries where similar CCP-operated “overseas police service centers” are known to exist so that Americans can make informed decisions prior to traveling abroad. 

The American people deserve full transparency from their government. I appreciate your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

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