Operator of suspected 'Chinese police station' denies repatriation of Chinese nationals

Wang Haijun, a Chinese national who controls the Chinese restaurant Dongpangmyeongju which is suspected of being a front for a "secret Chinese police station," speaks during a press conference held at the restaurant in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

By Jack Lau

The operator of a restaurant accused of serving as a clandestine Chinese police station has denied allegations that the organizations run from his establishment forced Chinese nationals to join protests against the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea, and helped repatriate Chinese dissidents.

During a news conference held at the boat restaurant, Dongpangmyeongju, in southern Seoul, Wang Haijun said that his restaurant is a normal business selling food to Chinese tourists and he has suffered a huge loss after media reports pointing to it as the secret Chinese police station operating in Seoul with tour groups canceling their reservations.

He held his second press conference Saturday to refute the allegations about his restaurant and the organizations led by him. In the first news conference held Wednesday, he blamed South Korean media outlets for spreading misinformation about the restaurant.

Wang, who heads several overseas Chinese groups closely linked to Beijing, neither confirmed nor denied the allegation that the restaurant was the front office of a secret police station, saying that he would leave the issue to the judgment of the Korean people and investigators.

Governments around the world, including South Korea's, have launched investigations into alleged secret police centers set up by Beijing on their soil after reports from a Madrid-based human rights group.

Earlier, a Spain-based advocacy group, Safeguard Defenders, said China had set up 102 such centers without the consent of their host nation to conduct consular functions ― which is against international law ― and to persuade Chinese nationals abroad who were suspected of "crimes" in China to return home and face charges.

Several Korean media outlets cited unnamed sources to claim that Wang's restaurant was such a Chinese police center.

"It's correct and very normal for the Korean anti-spy agency to launch an investigation," Wang told reporters. "For the safety of a country and its people, they should fulfill their duty and responsibilities."

But he said that he has not been subject to questioning by any government agency.

China's embassy in Seoul has denied the presence of a secret police station in the capital as the Spain-based group claimed. However, the police of Nantong, a city in eastern China, has described on its website a South Korean branch of the Police and Overseas Chinese Linkage Service Center it set up that recruited overseas Chinese and representatives of international students as liaisons in Korea.

Nantong police said they had also used the "police and overseas Chinese linkage mechanism" to monitor people outside the country suspected of financial crimes and collect information on them from overseas business associations.

Wang said he had never heard about the center set up by Nantong police and was not related to it.

"We don't communicate that much with the Nantong government, and we don't have that much contact with it."

Wang is the "actual controller" of the restaurant and has led the Overseas Chinese Service Center and other overseas Chinese groups in South Korea supported by China's State Council.

Those groups were involved in the protests against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system.

Wang denied that his organizations forced Chinese nationals to launch the demonstrations, and their participation was voluntary.

South Korea deployed a THAAD battery in 2017 to defend against North Korean missiles. China said that the U.S. anti-missile system might threaten its security and imposed a de facto ban on Korean media in China and tourism to South Korea.

Wang admitted that his organizations were managed and "protected" by the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department because it was part of the party organ's duties to maintain ties with Chinese nationals abroad.

He alleged, without evidence, that the media was being coordinated by pro-U.S. forces that were trying to influence the public narrative and defeat "Chinese forces" in South Korea.

"Whether it's U.S. forces or Chinese forces, please don't harm the Republic of Korea," he said, raising his voice. "But no matter what, it cannot change the fact that Korea is a neighbor of China."

The South Korean government said Dec. 20 that it had begun an investigation into the alleged police stations but has not revealed any further details to date.

Jack Lau is a reporter with the South China Morning Post. He is currently based in Seoul, writing for both The Korea Times and the South China Morning Post under an exchange program.