Originally published April 17, 2023 3:48 am PDT
Federal authorities, including the FBI and the Department of Justice, announced on Monday the arrest of two individuals for allegedly operating a covert Chinese police station in Manhattan’s Chinatown, according to a report from Fox News.
The suspects, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, have been charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, emphasized the severity of the situation, stating that China’s Ministry of Public Security “has repeatedly and flagrantly violated our nation’s sovereignty, including by opening and operating a police station in the middle of New York City.”
He elaborated on the details of the secret operation: “Two miles from our office just across the Brooklyn Bridge, this nondescript office building in the heart of bustling Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, has a dark secret. Until several months ago, an entire floor of this building hosted an undeclared police station of the Chinese National Police.”
Peace drew a comparison to emphasize the gravity of the offense, saying, “Now, just imagine the NYPD opening an undeclared secret police station in Beijing. It would be unthinkable.”
He then outlined the range of activities conducted at the secret police station, revealing that it “was providing some government services, like helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver’s licenses.”
However, he emphasized that even this required prior notice to the attorney general, which “didn’t happen.”
Peace also disclosed more alarming activities, stating, “More troubling, though, is the fact that the secret police station appears to have had a more sinister use on at least one occasion.”
He detailed an incident where “an official with the Chinese National Police directed one of the defendants — a U.S. citizen who worked at the secret police station — to help locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California.”
This suggests that the Chinese national police were using the station to monitor a U.S. resident on American soil.
In addition to the charges of acting as agents of a foreign government, the defendants have also been accused of obstructing justice.
Peace noted that “the two defendants whose arrests we’re announcing today destroyed evidence of their communications with the Chinese national police when they learned of the FBI’s investigation.”
He added, “These two defendants knew they had something to hide and they obstructed justice in an attempt to prevent the FBI from learning the full extent of what they were up to.”
The Justice Department previously characterized this case as a “significant national security matter.” The defendants are set to appear before a magistrate judge this afternoon.
FBI Director Christopher Wray had expressed concerns about such Chinese “police stations” during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in November 2022, ABC News reports.
He stated, “I’m very concerned about this. We are aware of the existence of these stations.”
Wray also highlighted the violation of sovereignty and standard cooperation procedures, saying, “But to me, it is outrageous to think that the Chinese police would attempt to set up shop, you know, in New York, let’s say, without proper coordination. It violates sovereignty and circumvents standard judicial and law enforcement cooperation processes.”
