According to a recent revelation, China has established more than 40 unofficial police stations in Europe and the Americas, some of which serve as fronts for the tracking and harassment of political dissidents.

According to a report by The Washington Examiner, the centers were dubbed "110 abroad service stations" after the nation's emergency police phone number, according to the study, which was written by the Spanish-based charity Safeguard Defenders.

The centers, which are run by Chinese community organizations and are located on five different continents, have been marketed as places where Chinese nationals who are living overseas may get assistance and have documents like driver's licenses taken care of. Some contend that they are utilized for more sinister reasons.

"In general, these stations have both a good and a bad purpose," Safeguard Defenders Director Peter Dahlin told The Daily Telegraph.

"They are there to help say Chinese tourists who get into trouble, they can act as a liaison with the local police, they can help out, basically. The problem is they are not properly registered as [agents for the police] in these different countries."

The centers, according to Dahlin, have been working "under the radar" while "targeting the Chinese diaspora."

He added that the "operations eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity of third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods."

According to the investigation, in one incident, police in a Madrid office located a man and coerced him into taking part in a "video call with public security agents and a prosecutor." Additionally, it was claimed that some gas stations had resorted to threatening to "cut electricity to families' homes" or "restrict access to public schools for relatives" if customers did not comply.