China may be using Interpol to target dissidents and political opponents based in Britain

China is misusing Interpol to hunt down Hong Kong dissidents and other political opponents in Britain, it has been claimed.

UK-based exiles and activists are bracing themselves for an expected onslaught of “red notices”, meaning they could be arrested when they travel abroad and handed back to the communist regime.

The international law enforcement agency is not supposed to be used for political ends.

However, it has attracted growing criticism in recent years for granting requests on behalf of dictatorial regimes.

Fears over the agency’s alleged disregard of human rights were further heightened in November after a Middle East police official accused of overseeing torture was elected the body’s president.

Now officials in Hong Kong are talking openly about using Interpol as a means of bringing dissidents back to the territory.

It follows a dramatic expansion in the variety of crimes being prosecuted under the draconian National Security Law, which was introduced in 2020.

The Hong Kong Police Force has become increasingly aggressive in its pursuit of opponents living abroad.

It has made clear that it will also pursue foreign nationals it accuses of assisting protesters.

Sixteen prominent Hong Kong human rights campaigners, six of whom live in the UK, have now written to the agency demanding to know whether the Chinese government or the Hong Kong Police Force has sought to use Interpol against them, and whether any red notices have been issued.

They say that without reassurances from Interpol, they are effectively prisoners in the UK.

“There is a real fear that Hong Kong, or China, might have already used Interpol tools against us, and if not, and perhaps the greater fear for most of us signing this letter, is Hong Kong and China’s intent on doing so, as they freely admit in public,” the letter states.

It is signed by Yau Man-Chun, a former Hong Kong legislator who fled the new security law, as well as Simon Cheng, a former British Consulate employee who claims he was tortured by the Chinese authorities.

Risk of extradition and prosecution

Luke de Pulford, who helps coordinate the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, is also a signatory, having been warned by the Foreign Office last year he was at risk of extradition and prosecution in Hong Kong.

They point out that in 2017 Interpol issued a red notice against Idris Hasan, a Uyghur activist who now faces deportation to China from Morocco.

Mr Cheng called on the UK government to lobby Interpol to cancel any red notices against human rights exiles and for the organisation to disclose if it had issued any.

“Interpol is like a black box and we don’t know what’s in it,” he said.

“We are very worried that they will just follow China’s instructions.

“We don’t know which countries it is safe to fly to.”

Ten countries currently have extradition treaties with China, of which two are EU member states, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

However Interpol, which has a much wider membership, gives China another potential tool to hunt down its enemies.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Any misuse of Interpol is taken incredibly seriously. We continue to support Interpol’s efforts to protect individuals’ rights and uphold its constitution, which forbids the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.

“Interpol plays a vital role every day to protect the public and the UK looks forward to continuing our close relationship with them, including the newly elected Executive Committee.”