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At the launch of their new book, INTERPOL Law and Practice, IHR Advisors co-founders Ben Keith and Rhys Davies were interviewed by VOA Mandarin about how the Chinese state uses INTERPOL against its critics abroad. The report was published on 28 September 2026. It comes two months before INTERPOL holds its 94th General Assembly in Hong Kong, from 30 November to 3 December 2026.
The authors explain how Beijing’s campaigns reach people outside China, why Hong Kong’s hosting of the Assembly concerns them, and what a person targeted by a Red Notice can do.
China uses INTERPOL’s Red Notice system to pursue political opponents abroad, with the requests framed as ordinary criminal cases. Ben Keith called China ‘one of the most sophisticated abusers of Interpol’ explaining how people targeted by China have included dissidents, journalists and critics of the Chinese government.
The pressure does not stop at the individual. Ben described how relatives remaining in China can be detained or threatened, and the person abroad then asked to come back and ‘assist with the investigation’, often with an assurance that they will not be punished.
Rhys Davies was clear that INTERPOL is an ‘excellent system’ for pursuing criminals across borders. It is also ‘open to abuse by bad actors’. In the VOA report he describes the Red Notice as ‘a dictator’s sniper rifle’. The danger he identifies is procedural. Once a politically motivated request enters INTERPOL’s systems, police forces in other member states can act on it in good faith, and so they are drawn into someone else’s persecution. And those individuals are targeted through travel bans, ‘debanking, reputational damage’ and prolonged stress.
INTERPOL has tightened its review of notices in recent years, and both authors acknowledged that. But a political case presented as fraud or corruption can still pass the first check. Article 3 of the INTERPOL Constitution forbids any activity of a political, military, religious or racial character. The rule is only as strong as INTERPOL’s ability to spot a political case disguised as an ordinary one.
Ben warned that China could use the Assembly ‘to try and launder its reputation’. The timing gives that concern weight. Hong Kong police have issued national security warrants for 34 pro-democracy activists living overseas, and 19 of them carry bounties of HK$1 million each. VOA reports that Ben described the bounties as ‘extremely sinister’, because they encourage people to find ways of getting the targets back to China.
Paul Harris SC, former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, also questioned the venue. ‘It is inappropriate, since China has broken the Sino-British Joint Declaration and is imprisoning Hong Kong people for political offences,’ he said.
All seven seats on the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) will be elected in Hong Kong. The CCF is the only body that can order a Red Notice to be deleted or amended, so who sits on it matters directly to anyone challenging one. Taiwan, meanwhile, remains outside the organisation. Rhys pointed to Beijing’s influence and to INTERPOL’s wish to keep its members: ‘The simple fact of the matter is that Taiwan is not going to be admitted as a member.’
INTERPOL Law and Practice sets out the practical steps individuals and their lawyers can take to challenge Red Notices and diffusions, including applications to the CCF. Our INTERPOL practice acts for people facing politically motivated Red Notices and diffusions. We make pre-emptive submissions before a notice is issued, bring deletion requests before the CCF, and defend related extradition proceedings. Where the targeting forms part of a wider campaign of transnational repression, our international law team can take the case to UN mechanisms and other international bodies.
Thank you to VOA Mandarin for the interview, and to Paul Harris SC for his contribution. The full report, in Chinese, can be read here. Read more about the book on Red Notice Monitor.
A Red Notice is easy to issue and hard to remove. If you are affected by one, or fear one is coming, contact us in confidence.
