A 'secret police station' allegedly run by the Chinese state in a Glasgow restaurant has been shut down.
It was revealed last year that the Scottish Government and Police Scotland were aware of a secret Chinese outpost operating out of the Loon Fung restaurant on Sauchiehall Street and were taking the matter "extremely seriously."
A report by a Spanish non-government organisation, Safeguard Defenders, claimed at the time that there were 110 units across the world, with one in Glasgow. The group suggested the secret police stations were in place in an attempt to force Chinese dissidents into going back home.
After a lengthy investigation into the allegations, UK Security Minister Tom Tugenhadt stated that police had visited all of the sites mentioned in the UK and they had not found 'any evidence of illegal activity on behalf of the Chinese state' but confirmed that they had been shut down.
In a written statement at the House of Commons, he said: "The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office have told the Chinese Embassy that any functions related to such 'police service stations' in the UK are unacceptable and that they must not operate in any form.
"The Chinese Embassy have subsequently responded that all such stations have closed permanently. Any further allegations will be swiftly investigated in line with UK law."
He continued: "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 Chinese authorities regularly criticise others for what they see as interference in their internal affairs. Yet, they felt able to open unattributed sites without consulting the UK Government. It is alleged that this was a pattern repeated around the world."
Earlier this year, MPs called for the stations to be shut down and the people operating them to be kicked out of the country.
The Government is clear "that we want to engage and partner with China on key issues where it is in our national interest to do so," Tugendhat said.
He added: "However, the UK will always put national security first. Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated. This is an insidious threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights."
The National Security Bill, in its final stages of going through Parliament, will "drastically improve our tools to deal with the full range of state threat activity, regardless of where it originates," he said.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's chief executive, said: "Any Chinese 'police stations' being used to spy on Hong Kong and mainland Chinese communities anywhere in the UK must be shut down immediately.
"The UK Government must defend Hong Kong and mainland Chinese people living here from Beijing's efforts to intimidate and silence them and protect their rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. The Government must make it absolutely clear to the Chinese authorities at the highest levels that it will not tolerate the long arm of Chinese state oppression here."
Speaking last year Nicola Sturgeon said: "Any foreign country operating in Scotland must abide by Scottish law.
"The Scottish Government fully supports an individual's rights to freedom of expression and that is also an extremely important principle. These matters require to be fully and properly investigated and it would not be appropriate for me to go into too much detail, but I do know - and I know this as a result of a conversation I had just yesterday with the chief constable - police are aware of these reports."
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