They are not "operating" in any official capacity. They are just there, doing their "persuasion." Remember the USA and Europe have good free speech laws that will protect those "persuasion."
Even with police cooperation agreements in place, they don't have the usual police power like arresting anyone.
A NYT article from back in 2016 says,
> In 2014 […] That was the year the two countries signed a bilateral police cooperation agreement, the first of its kind between China and a European nation.
> The Chinese officers do not have arrest powers in Italy, but they are paired with Italian officers who could arrest someone, except no arrests have been needed.
Laws are only as good as the prosecutors enforcing them, and with the support of a nation state it’s very easy to evade criminal prosecution. I suspect that few if any European legal systems are set up to effectively deal with an adversary operating in this manner.
Even with police cooperation agreements in place, they don't have the usual police power like arresting anyone.
A NYT article from back in 2016 says,
> In 2014 […] That was the year the two countries signed a bilateral police cooperation agreement, the first of its kind between China and a European nation.
> The Chinese officers do not have arrest powers in Italy, but they are paired with Italian officers who could arrest someone, except no arrests have been needed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/world/europe/chinese-poli...