China’s Cops Are Coming to a City Near You
Its international policing activities are growing. That’s turning the country into a global security power.12 November 2024 at 3:00 AM SGT
By Karishma Vaswani
Karishma Vaswani is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia politics with a special focus on China. Previously, she was the BBC's lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades.
Chinese police officers in Italy.
Photographer: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images
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China’s international policing activities are increasing in size and scope, particularly in the Global South. This risks giving the world’s second-largest economy more influence in nations where it’s already forging ahead through diplomacy and economic relationships. It’s a worrying trend, especially as Washington — with President-elect Donald Trump running things from next year — and Beijing jostle for leadership in the developing world.
These security operations are helping the Communist Party protect its interests abroad, a new report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies shows, while promoting Beijing’s image as a responsible security player. China is doing this, the report adds, through the export of technology, and the integration of technicians into the security agencies of foreign countries, providing Beijing with vital intelligence opportunities.
