According to a report from the Spain-based nonprofit Safeguard Defenders initially published last month, China has set up dozens of “overseas police service centers” worldwide, including in New York City. As of last month, the only other North American center is in Toronto, with the bulk of the centers concentrated in 16 European countries including Britain, France, Spain and Germany. However, updates to the report earlier this month have the total number of cities affected up from 54 initially to more than 80.

The centers provide assistance to Chinese nationals residing abroad in handling paperwork, including Chinese driver’s licenses and other official documents. Chinese state media indicated in reports that some of these centers have also performed operations in collaboration with the Chinese police.

“In general, these stations have both a good and a bad purpose,” Safeguard Defenders Director Peter Dahlin was quoted as saying. “They are there to help say Chinese tourists who get into trouble, they can act as a liaison with the local police, they can help out, basically. The problem is they are not properly registered as [agents for the police] in these different countries.”

The police centers caught the attention of some American politicians, who demanded to know how China was able to set up one in New York City. 21 lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland last week. “There should be no room for the Chinese government to exercise extraterritorial law enforcement unilaterally on U.S. soil,” the letter read. “The Chinese overseas police service station established in New York City earlier this year appears to be a further step of China’s illicit long arm policing on U.S. soil that violates our sovereignty.”

The letter came just days before the Biden administration unveiled its national security strategy vision, establishing China as the top threat to domestic national security. A day after that, a rare protest in Beijing sparked an online hunt for the mystery protester’s identity, as well as praise for the action.

Yahoo News, NextShark, Australian Broadcasting Corp. News and BBC News contributed to this report.