CCP's Overseas Surveillance Network Exposed! Taiwanese People Also Targeted, 54 Lawmakers from 26 Countries Join Forces to Counter! Former Japanese Defense Minister Discusses Taiwan Strait Crisis | IPAC The Hague Press Conference

This video is a record of the press conference at the IPAC Hague Summit. The conference released a new report by Safeguard Defenders on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s overseas police stations and transnational repression. 54 IPAC lawmakers from 26 countries joined forces to call for action against the CCP's foreign interference and transnational surveillance. Dutch and Japanese politicians attended and shared their views on issues such as the situation in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea arbitration, and the security of international supply chains.

Video link:

Full text:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome and thank you for coming to the Schelfkamer of the Dutch Parliament today. This room holds many fond memories for me, as it is exactly where I conducted three months of coalition negotiations just last winter. After those negotiations concluded, my party joined the current ruling coalition, the Dutch government. But today, we are gathered here for the IPAC Summit. This summit has just concluded, and I am pleased to say that it was a highly significant IPAC summit, with parliamentarians from countries across six continents and thirty nations. This is the most extensive representation to date at an IPAC summit in the organization's young history, which is no small feat. I want to thank all the participants who traveled from afar to come to The Hague, and of course, especially to this organization, the IPAC Secretariat, the people in the Netherlands who put in the effort, and the staff of the Dutch Parliament, who played a key role in making all of this possible. Thank you very much. I am even happier to announce that the network has agreed to work together to promote the following two proposals. First, to ensure peace and stability in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait through joint international efforts, launching campaigns among our members to advocate for the global importance of this region to us all, concerning our economy, security, and the rule of law. Second, we have agreed to commit to enhancing our countries' resilience against China's economic leverage. This resilience covers the entire society, launching campaigns to raise public awareness of the risks—the risks posed by China—passing motions in our parliaments, and engaging in dialogues with our ministers and envoys to ensure that resilience becomes the core of our actions. These policy proposals are exactly the outcomes we believe we can best achieve as an international network. As an international network, both transcend the concerns of individual member states; both are global issues, and both require global cooperation to be achieved. These are in addition to the regional and country-specific work that our members are currently doing and will continue to do in the future.

Thank you very much, Tom. For us as IPAC Netherlands co-chairs, it is a great honor to host this summit. We are also very pleased that Safeguard Defenders could attend our summit. Laura Harth, Campaign Director at Safeguard Defenders, who also serves at the IPAC Secretariat, presented their report. I would like to hand the microphone over to her so she can present the report here as well, because this concerns all countries—the participating nations and many others—based on their findings regarding China's overseas police stations.

Thank you, Jan. Thank you, Tom. Thank you very much to the Dutch co-chairs for hosting us and holding the summit here. Yes, Safeguard Defenders is honored, obviously, to exclusively release this report at the IPAC summit in The Hague, which is the perfect platform to prompt immediate action by all members of the network. Therefore, I am also grateful for the statements issued by many members of the network. I will not speak for long. This report indeed documents that after 2022, when Beijing told all of us, told governments of other countries, that it had stopped violating their sovereignty, that it had stopped pursuing individuals overseas, and that through illegal undeclared police stations and other mechanisms it had stopped violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. This report documents that official policies issued as nationwide directives to the entire institutional system—both the Chinese party and state—did not stop, but rather expanded this. So what we are truly seeing starting from 2024 is a clear directive from Xi Jinping, himself and everyone under him, to expand cooperation, to proactively seek out overseas associations connected to the United Front in order to exercise control and surveillance, targeting the overseas diaspora in the exact same way the Chinese Communist Party attempts to govern its population inside China. So this is worrying, and this truly concerns the whole world, every single country. So again, I am very grateful to IPAC for hosting the release of this report and for issuing an urgent call to action demanding to investigate, if I may say so, the United Front, treating it as an active threat to all of our nations. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Laura. Next, I would like to introduce the former Japanese Minister of Defense, and it is an honor to welcome him back to The Hague. At the summit, we saw him meet several former colleagues, those defense ministers who have worked with us, both in the context of the Asia-Pacific region, the four partners, NATO, as well as indirect bilateral cooperation between our countries and Japan. It is a privilege to have you here attending this summit. I would like to hand the floor over to former Defense Minister Nakatani. Japan IPAC Chair Nakatani stated, "Following the report, we have received a report regarding the investigation by Safeguard Defenders. Out of the IPAC members across 26 countries, 54 are Chinese, and we have agreed to counter foreign agent counter-terrorism operations."

I am the former Minister of Defense, General Nakatani from Japan. As Laura just mentioned, thanks to the report by Safeguard Defenders, 54 IPAC members from 26 countries have adopted a joint statement to combat foreign interference and transnational repression perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party. This report highlights a reality: China is operating a massive control system not only within China's borders, but across the entire globe. The Chinese Communist Party is monitoring people living abroad. This is not merely external influence; in terms of information influence, it is a threat to sovereignty, democracy, and security, and it violates the basic human rights of Chinese experts. To address these serious issues, at this summit IPAC has requested governments to take six different actions in our statement. First, we want to strengthen the registration of foreign agents to ensure transparency of activities conducted on behalf of foreign governments. Second, we want to register and disclose information regarding organizations connected to United Front work, and this is important in terms of exposing the actual facts. Third, we need to raise awareness, officially promoted by the government, of the necessity to widely explain to local authorities, universities, and businesses regarding illegal interference and the targets they actually pursue. The fourth point is for the government to provide and publish an annual report regarding illegal Chinese interference. The fifth point is to establish a safe place easily accessible for Chinese experts where they can report transnational repression and surveillance. The sixth point is to strengthen dialogue with isolated individuals due to repression, especially Taiwanese, representatives, and minority groups, so we need to listen to their voices. There are currently discussions regarding the introduction of a Foreign Agents registration system, and this report and joint statement will have an important impact, including on Japan and the rest of the world. Thank you very much for Minister Nakatani's contribution. Now I would like to open the floor for questions. If possible, please state your media affiliation before asking your question, that would be wonderful.

Let me start with Ms. Borger. I think it's fair to say that there are many things happening right now, of course, we have Ukrainians present, and likewise at this summit, many speakers realize that the path to escalation in the Taiwan Strait may well pass right through what is happening in Ukraine and Kyiv. So in that sense, what is happening in the world is interconnected, and of course, it was also mentioned at the meeting that many countries think it is very important to show a presence in the Indo-Pacific, to conduct freedom of navigation operations, but they are sometimes also overstretched and thinly spread, because navies must protect the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, must maintain a presence in the Middle East, and also maintain a presence in the Indo-Pacific. But on the other hand, we also see that everyone here recognizes, and there are many reminders continually emerging, of course, now with the Safeguard Defenders report, and almost every week in every country, whether it's warnings from intelligence agencies or actual cyber attacks taking place, showing that we really cannot afford to be distracted by all the turbulence in the world that is indeed happening. I think this is also why IPEC has successfully brought in more talent from more diverse countries to truly come here; we heard from the Panama delegation saying that support for IPEC's mission is stronger in that country than ever before. I think just two years ago, we basically had no IPEC members from Panama, and the secretariat has also been able to introduce many new members, while also announcing that eight of our members have recently actually joined national governments, not just Marco Rubio in the United States, or three ministers in the Netherlands, but across multiple countries. So on the one hand, you are completely right, this makes the challenge slightly larger because there is so much news, but on the other hand, if you look closely, this news is just more reason for us to work together and attend these summits, and that is precisely what more and more people are doing, which is why we have agreed on a very concrete set of action plans closely related to all the turbulent situations, whether in the Middle East, in Ukraine, or in Africa.

No, you are completely right, but I think, as I said during the briefing, that map and what you find on that map are actually just the tip of the iceberg, right? Because some of the things we are able to map out, in some cases, are local-level party organizations, or one of the associations itself, publishing something online where they say 'Oh, we received this specific appointment,' right? Now, we also know from the policies we see, from those numbers published by the Chinese Communist Party talking about tens of thousands of such associations, that this is written into state policy, and every Chinese organ must do this, and now there are over 30,000 overseas Chinese friendship associations in China, and these mechanisms are being implemented there, so its scale is much larger than what you can map out, what you can find online is very limited, and I think one of the things we've done, noticing again after 2022, is that the party is not completely stupid; obviously, that kind of evidence is becoming harder and harder to see online, so this is truly why we study these policies and tell people, 'The focus is not on that map, which is very interesting and a starting point; the focus is on the United Front and how it operates.' Thank you very much.

Yes, I don't know about your first question, I cannot deny this possibility, such a situation could certainly happen, but as a country, we have always worked with the rest of the world to ensure that such contingencies do not happen, and we are making sure that we do not let that situation happen—one that would be under threat of force—and should such a contingency occur, Japan has relevant laws, and should such a contingency occur outside Japan and have an impact, bringing critical impact to Japan's security, then Japan will be able to support other countries or cooperate with other countries, but the degree of support will depend on the individual circumstances decided on a case-by-case basis. But in any case, regarding such situations, we will be able to take certain actions, so in order to do this, we are trying to gather as much information as possible and provide information as much as possible. Thank you very much.

I will ask Mr. Nakatani and Mr. Van Der Laan to also speak on this, but let me say first, I think the Philippines deserves, deserves to be commended because they have not silently allowed Philippine territory to be seized and let it happen, but have always stood up against it and publicly spoken out against it, while calling on partners and friends around the world to do the same. This is always the first step, never letting this principle be normalized—namely the nine-dash line—and they always stand up to defend international law. Mr. Van Der Laan. Van Der Laan, would you like to comment on this personally?

Well, I completely agree with Yang's point, and specifically, if you look at the Dutch contribution, we have a policy that every two years, we will send one of our frigates to the region, and it will also transit the Taiwan Strait, to demonstrate, and uh, specifically, if you look at the Dutch contribution, so uh, we have a policy, every two years, we will send a frigate uh to the region, and it will also transit uh the Taiwan uh Strait uh, to demonstrate uh, to demonstrate with actual actions that we believe this is a very important uh freedom of navigation, in international waters, uh, of course uh, we are in The Hague, uh, one of the most important cities, one of the most important cities in terms of international law, uh, and uh we will uh do our utmost uh, to support the Philippines uh, in defending uh their rights uh, in their, in that part of their waters, so hi, that no, no, don't do this anymore, this no that no, changing the status quo by force, such things are absolutely not allowed, that is what I think, the practice of domination through force, this is exactly the basic principle, therefore, proceeding in this way, this in The Hague, this, that international conference has already been held, now, that warning, regarding this, if violated, that, has already been issued, so, that warning should also accept this, that kind of thing, that, is also not something that should be stopped, that public, ah, at this conference, this in the actual video... please let us see, regarding that ruling, to put it simply... I am afraid it involves blockades and hostile actions... uh, this is exactly that... the attempt to change the status quo by force... we are engaged in such things... well, in this way, that international blockade... well, and regarding the so-called judicial jurisdiction and related regulations, this, the carving should be condemned, according to that policy, I think.

Thank you very much, Minister Nakatani, we still have a few, oh, this is uh, translation. Okay, yes, of course, yes, Japan also cannot agree, uh, with China's... uh, attempts to change the status quo by force, of course, they must, uh, respect, uh, the rule of law, and in The Hague there is, uh, the International Criminal Court, and, uh, China has, China must accept the rulings of the International Criminal Court, as you mentioned, and yesterday we saw those videos, and we saw, uh, witnessed the illegal acts that China is doing, such as water cannons, that is another example, uh uh, what they are trying to do, to change the status quo by force, and they must, uh uh, respect the rulings of the International Criminal Court, so we cannot accept this. Yes, I think it is the International Court of Justice, and, and indeed there are many, yes, of course, there are so many courts in The Hague, I understand it gets confusing sometimes, uh, this would not happen in Washington D.C., I must admit.

Well, so we have a few more minutes, and then maybe there will be an opportunity for some separate discussions, if uh, if there are, I see three people uh, who have questions, uh, please go ahead.

Yes, the Netherlands has already taken some measures, but I also think the Netherlands can do more, uh, because, of course, apart from the report by Safeguard Defenders, this is also something our intelligence agencies have been warning us about for years, warning us for years, in their annual reports, that transnational repression is heating up, it is affecting more and more of the diaspora, uh, and not just the first-generation diaspora, the second and third-generation diaspora as well, uh, what this government has already done, uh, has started to establish liaison windows, located within the Ministry of Justice, for use by all who face transnational repression or any foreign interference in their organizations, they have formulated new policies to ensure, uh, that police agencies maintain a neutral stance, towards foreign governments, uh, and it seems they will not cooperate, because that would affect their neutrality, towards the people they need to protect, and at the same time, they should clearly speak out, to defend this principle: freedom, in this country does not only belong to the people, they have already lived in this country for several generations, but every person who is legally in this country, should enjoy the same freedom as everyone else, this is according to our constitution, but I also recognize that there is more work to be done, and I think, the Safeguard Defenders report provides us with some concrete examples of what we can do, and uh, these uh, will certainly be debated in parliament, uh, and will also be discussed next month in the debate, together with the Foreign Minister, uh, yes.

Thank you very much for asking that question. Um, I think it relates a bit to the question Ms. Work just raised, which is the turmoil we see around the world and how that affects the work of IPEC. Of course, IPEC is stronger when democratic nations stand united, working hand in hand rather than waging trade wars against each other. But when they clearly understand their common interests—and this common interest is, of course, having a world where we don't all have to rely on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—so yes, there have been discussions between the Dutch and U.S. governments regarding ASML and exports to the People's Republic of China. I think this has led to ASML stopping the export of its most advanced lithography equipment over the past few years. We have all seen that. Um, we also see the U.S. government discussing the possibility that an EUV machine somehow made its way into the People's Republic of China, but we haven't seen any evidence of that. Um, but the Netherlands is fully committed to maintaining the export controls we have implemented and put into effect. Um, we will do this in cooperation with our partners, working with the U.S. My hope is that after the midterm elections, all the newly elected senators and representatives will carefully examine what is in the best interest of the U.S. And what is in the best interest of the U.S., I believe, is working hand in hand with partners. We had some U.S. state senators here who gave excellent briefings on the challenges they face. In the U.S., these situations are very similar to what we see in many other countries within the IPEC network. So, um, this is where we, um, intend to focus: transatlantic cooperation and maintaining strong transatlantic unity, including on the issue of China.

Uh, yes, I mean, Europe is indeed showing up in red. Um, the maps in the room do have numbers for each country. Again, those numbers are limited; those are the ones we have captured. The situation is very specific, and there are open sources indicating that we appointed this person and telling us exactly the location and the content, so there is much more that is not represented on that map. Generally speaking, the rule is very simple, and again, the Party tells us—they tell us—that wherever there are overseas Chinese, the work must follow. As Jan has already said, their concept of overseas Chinese is very, very broad, right? It can trace back—if, if I don't know, you have Chinese ancestors from ten generations ago, you are an overseas Chinese. If you are from Hong Kong, if you are from Taiwan, they will treat you as an overseas Chinese and target you. If you are a student from China studying abroad, you are an overseas Chinese. So this system actually covers a very wide group of people. No matter where they are, you will find these systems. That is the instruction the Party has always followed. So this also goes back to the question about India. It might be less obvious in the types of sources we have seen; they might be more careful. Um, perhaps we are not looking in the right place, right? That, that can also happen. But you can get insurance; if there are overseas Chinese, the work will be done there. So it is also reasonable, you know, that if there are larger gatherings, if there are larger diaspora groups, these strongholds will emerge accordingly. It is also logical that, you know, if the overseas diaspora comes from Fujian Province, you will see the Fujian system; if they come from Zhejiang Province, you will see that it is the Zhejiang system. So it is very logical; it is actually not that complicated, yes. So I wouldn't call them all police stations, but these nearly 1,250 are the ones that correspond to what I would call an almost exact copy of the domestic grid system. So when you see the combination of these four—the political and legal institutions, which are the police, the courts, the procuratorates, or the justice bureaus—participating with the overseas CCP United Front Work Department, and they clearly state what their mission is, right? So this is a very specific set of circumstances that corresponds to these points on that map. Again, I want to say that these are just the tip of the iceberg. There are other Chinese agencies doing the same thing. Um, they are setting them up; it hasn't appeared on the map yet, and it might never, because they are very careful. But this is what is really happening. I wouldn't call them all police stations; I think that has always been, frankly, a bit of an inappropriate term.

Thank you very much. It is time for this press conference to end, but I think everyone is available for follow-up questions, of course, especially regarding the Safeguard Defenders report. Thank you all for participating, and thank you, Mr. Nakatani.

Sorry, may I make a small point? Regarding that South China Sea arbitration ruling, about the South China Sea and centering around Liu Yuquan, the ruling—we have already talked about it, but um, this is the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the PCA, located in The Hague, that's right, um, on July 12, 2016, um, regarding the ruling issued by that arbitration concerning the South China Sea nine-dash line, um, the negative ruling determined that it did not have (the party's) issued [ruling], and this, um, is binding, but China has completely failed to comply. As expected, um, regarding such international law and, um, international practice, um, China also, um, joined the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), so um, I think it should abide by it. So I just want to correct a statement I made earlier: so in The Hague there is the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016 that the territory claimed by China is not part of China, and this ruling is legally binding, China indeed must comply with this ruling, and China is also a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, so they truly must respect this ruling, that is what I wanted to convey.