April 18, 2023
A vehicle believed to be linked to people impersonating Chinese police on Melbourne streets has been branded “completely unacceptable” amid fears of intimidation in the Chinese-Australian community.
The grey Nissan sedan featuring the words “special police” in Chinese and a similar logo to official cars was spotted in West Melbourne last week.
One person who saw it said they got “chills” down their spine, and believed the drivers would be Chinese Communist Party agents tasked with silencing the voices of people from China.
Victorian senator James Paterson, the opposition spokesman for countering foreign interference, said: “While it’s highly likely this is an over enthusiastic supporter of the Chinese Communist Party and not a real representative of a People’s Republic of China police force, it’s nonetheless completely unacceptable behaviour in Australia.”
Fake Chinese police cars were spotted in WA and SA in2019, as people gathered in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Victoria Police said it had not received any reports about the car.
