London: Tom Tugendhat, the British security minister, stated on Tuesday that China had shut down alleged "police service stations" at locations throughout the UK and that an investigation had not turned up any evidence of illegal activity by the Chinese government at these locations.

In the past, Britain has called reports of unregistered police stations in the nation "extremely concerning" and said it was unacceptable for China or other countries to intimidate foreign nationals while they were on British soil.

China has refuted Tugendhat's allegations that it runs police posts in the UK and issued a statement via its embassy in London disputing Tugendhat's statements, claiming that the claims are a "complete political lie."

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In a written statement to parliament, Tugendhat claimed that British police had looked into claims made by the non-governmental human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders that such police stations were running at three British locations.

"I can confirm that they have not, to date, identified any evidence of illegal activity on behalf of the Chinese state across these sites," he stated. We believe that any administrative functions that may have existed at these sites have been suppressed as a result of police and public scrutiny.

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The Chinese government has previously claimed that there are centres outside of China that help Chinese citizens renew documents and provide other services, but they are run by local volunteers rather than Chinese police officers.

In April, two people from New York were detained by US federal agents on suspicion of running a Chinese "secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown. China had declared that it vehemently disagreed with what it called "the US's slanders and smears."

According to the British government, there are approximately 100 such stations in existence worldwide.

According to Tugendhat, "The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has informed the Chinese Embassy that any operations associated with such "police service stations" in the UK are unacceptable and that they must cease in all forms.

The Chinese Embassy later responded that all of these stations had been permanently shuttered. Any additional allegations will be looked into right away in accordance with UK law.

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In response to a question regarding Tugendhat's claim, a representative of the Chinese Embassy in London stated, as translated by Reuters from Mandarin, "There is simply no existence of so-called 'overseas police posts.'

The so-called "overseas police posts" have been shown to be a complete political fabrication by the facts, and politicians who speculate on this subject are merely engaging in political manoeuvring.The Chinese government calls on the UK government to stop slandering China and stop disseminating erroneous information.