China to train thousands of overseas law enforcement officers to create ‘more fair’ world order

China will train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers so as to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction”, its minister for public security has said.

“We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” minister Wang Xiaohong told an annual global security forum.

Wang Xiaohong made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organisations such as Interpol.

The forum is part of ongoing efforts by China’s ruling Communist party to position itself as a global security leader. In 2022 China’s leader, Xi Jinping, launched the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which centres China as a facilitator to “improve global security governance … and promote durable peace”.

Some human rights groups have raised concerns that recent training programs for African police officers introduce Communist party-style authoritarian tactics, and are heavily focused on protecting Chinese commercial interests in those countries – often connected to China’s state-run foreign investment program, the belt and road initiative.

Public reports of Monday’s speech did not provide details on the officers or countries to receive the training, or where the training would occur.

Beijing has linked the GSI to its brokering of agreements between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the development of its peace proposal for the Ukraine war. It is seen by analysts as a vehicle to reshape the current US-dominated world order.

The GSI concept appears to include a run of bilateral security and policing agreements made with developing nations in recent years, particularly in Africa and the Indo-Pacific.

Last year, Beijing said the GSI sought to encourage greater cooperation between tertiary-level military and police academies, and was “willing to provide other developing countries with 5,000 training opportunities in the next five years to train professionals for addressing global security issues”.

Monday’s announcement suggests that number is increasing, with Wang noting that China has already trained 2,700 foreign law enforcement officers in the past year.

Last week after a China-Africa forum, Beijing announced it will train 1,000 more police enforcement officers for the African continent “and jointly ensure the safety of cooperation projects and personnel”. It was not immediately clear if those 1,000 officers are included in the 3,000 cited by Wang on Monday.

On Tuesday, Wang addressed the China-central Asia summit on public security and met senior officials from the five attendant nations. He said they had agreed to strengthen ties including efforts to “deepen law enforcement and security cooperation”, and to “focus on the vision of universal security and enhance the ability of joint operations against terrorism and transnational crime”.

In July, the president of Timor Leste, Jose Ramos Horta, visited Beijing and signed a new partnership agreement with Xi, including to “enhance exchanges at all levels between the military and police forces, strengthen cooperation in such areas as personnel training, equipment technology, the conduct of joint exercises and training, police affairs and law enforcement”.

In 2022 an agreement with the Solomon Islands to boost cooperation with China on “law enforcement and security matters” sparked alarm among the US and other western allies, including other Pacific nations. In the wake of the Solomons agreement the then foreign minister Wang Yi attempted to create a regional agreement with around a dozen Pacific nations but was rebuffed.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.