cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/509234
The order came from the Elysée Palace but had to remain secret so as not to offend Beijing. The head of the Paris office of the Ministry of State Security (MSE, or Guoanbu), the Chinese intelligence agency, and his deputy were asked to leave France.
Paris had accused them of orchestrating an attempt to forcibly repatriate a political dissident in March. Chinese officials said it was a misunderstanding and worked hard to demonstrate their good faith. To no avail.
On March 22, an unusual scene drew the attention of France’s border police, the DNPAF, at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport. As the police looked on, a man was being restrained by a group of seven individuals who were leading him toward the boarding gates despite his resistance. The intervention of the border police put an end to a plan to forcibly repatriate back to China 26-year-old Chinese dissident Ling Huazhan, described by France DGSI domestic intelligence agency as “a psychologically fragile person.”
After an investigation, it emerged that the leader of the kidnapping group was none other than the head of the MSE post in France. Like all foreign liaison officers, he was registered as such with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and holds an official passport which guarantees him diplomatic immunity. His deputy enjoys similar protection.
Ling lived a solitary and precarious existence near the Saint Lazare train station, having fled to Europe as a refugee. He’d been targeted by China for “actions offensive to the Chinese president,” for anti-Xi Jinping graffiti and for defacing posters bearing Xi’s likeness. He also shared articles critical of the Chinese regime on social media. His passport was withheld as a means of pressure to get him to the airport.
Breaking off diplomatic relations is usually a very extreme measure. In the tradition of diplomacy, it is the most serious action a country can take to express its disapproval of another besides declaring war. It might be justified but it won’t be taken because the Chinese government offends extremely easily and would retaliate in kind with trade sanctions and embargoes.
If world leaders actually had the stock to stand up to China, their next move would be to say “One more fuck up and we recognise the Republic of China on Taiwan as the legitimate government of China”.
While breaking off diplomatic relations is an extreme step I wouldn’t recommend, I do wonder if it might not be practical to severely limit the number of diplomatic immunity eligible people allowed in after something like this.
Tell China that henceforth they get to send no more than three or maybe five people to whom it applies. Still gives it to the ambassador and a very small staff, but removes the feasibility of sending in teams of spies and kidnappers thus protected.
I still don’t understand why western allies don’t establish other manufacturing chains with countries like, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Or you know bring back manufacturing jobs inside their respective countries. For countries that complain about China they sure are addicted to buying all their cheap shit
Profits