The order came from the Elysée and was supposed to remain secret so as not to offend the sensibilities of the Beijing regime. The head of the Paris post of the Ministry of State Security (MSE or Guoanbu), the Chinese secret service, at the Chinese embassy, and his deputy were asked to leave French territory. Paris accuses them in particular of having orchestrated, in March, an attempt to forcibly repatriate a political dissident. The Chinese authorities pleaded misunderstanding and deployed a lot of energy to demonstrate their good faith. In vain. The information was confirmed to World within the Quai d’Orsay, which specified that, in this specific case, it was a procedure “by mutual agreement”.
On March 22, an unusual scene attracted the attention of the border police (formerly the Air and Border Police, PAF) at Roissy – Charles-de-Gaulle airport. As the police watched, a man was being forced to move by a group of seven individuals, who were leading him, despite his resistance, to the boarding gates. The intervention of the PAF put an end to the plan to forcibly repatriate to China Ling Huazhan, a 26-year-old Chinese dissident, whom the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) describes as “a psychologically fragile person”.
After investigation, it appeared that the person leading the group of kidnappers was none other than the head of the Chinese MSE station in France. Like all foreign service liaison officers, he was declared as such to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has an official passport that guarantees him diplomatic immunity. His deputy enjoys the same type of protection.
“Pressures”
Ling Huazhan, lived alone and precariously near the Saint-Lazare train station, after having taken refuge in Europe. He is targeted by China for “offensive action against the Chinese president” for anti-Xi Jinping graffiti and defacing posters bearing his image. He also allegedly shared articles critical of the Chinese regime on social media. The detention of his passport was used as a means of pressure to take him to the airport.
His identity document was allegedly stolen from a shop run by Chinese people near the Saint-Lazare train station. According to the DGSI, this place was used as a “police station” ghost, used by Beijing throughout the world to enforce its own law, particularly against its opponents. There are several of them in Paris and on French territory.
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