Two people have been charged in connection with opening and operating a police station in lower Manhattan, NY, on behalf of the Chinese government. .“The PRC (People’s Republic of China), through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” said United States Department of Justice (DOJ) National Security Division Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen in a Monday press release. .“The PRC’s actions go far beyond the bounds of acceptable nation-state conduct.” .Olsen said the DOJ will “resolutely defend the freedoms of all those living in our country from the threat of authoritarian repression.”.New York City residents Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, were arrested Monday morning at their homes. Their initial appearances are scheduled Monday afternoon in Brooklyn before US Magistrate Judge Ramon E Reyes Jr. .Lu and Chen are charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and obstructing justice by destroying evidence of their communications with a Ministry of Public Security official. They worked together to establish the first overseas police station in the US on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of the MPS. .The release said the police station — which closed in the fall of 2022 after those operating it became aware of the FBI’s investigation — occupied a floor in an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown. While acting under the direction and control of the MPS official, it said they helped open and operate it. .Eastern District of New York US Attorney Breon Peace said the Chinese government violated national sovereignty by setting up the station. .“As alleged, the defendants and their co-conspirators were tasked with doing the PRC’s bidding, including helping locate a Chinese dissident living in the United States, and obstructed our investigation by deleting their communications,” said Peace. .“Such a police station has no place here in New York City — or any American community.” .Before helping to open the station in 2022, Lu had a longstanding relationship of trust with Chinese law enforcement. Since 2015 and throughout its operation, he was tasked with carrying out various activities, including to assist China’s actions on American soil. .The release went on to say the FBI conducted a judicially authorized search of the station. In connection with the search, it said agents interviewed Lu and Chen. .In reviewing the content of their phones, the agents observed communications between them and the MPS official appeared to have been deleted. During subsequent consensual interviews, they admitted to the FBI they deleted the messages after learning about the ongoing investigation, preventing it from learning the full extent of the MPS’s directions. .If convicted of conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The obstruction of justice charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. .The FBI New York Field Office investigated the case. .Eastern District of New York Assistant US Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon and Antoinette N. Rangel and National Security Division Counterintelligence and Export Control Section Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee are prosecuting the case. .FBI Counterintelligence Division Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow said it is outrageous the MPS thinks it can get away with establishing a secret police station on American soil. Ronnow called the case “a powerful reminder that the People’s Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they don’t want anyone to hear.” .“The FBI is dedicated to protecting everyone in the United States against efforts to undermine our democratic freedoms, and we’ll hold any state actors – and those who help them – accountable for breaking our laws,” he said. .The Chinese government is operating 54 so-called service stations in countries around the world, including Canada, according to an October report from human rights group Safeguard Defenders..READ MORE: Chinese operating three police stations in Canada.Chinese law enforcement had opened three stations in the Greater Toronto Area, in areas with large Chinese-Canadian populations. The three addresses were a private home in Markham, ON, a convenience store in Scarborough, ON, and an address listed as the headquarters of the Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association..Officers working at these stations keep an eye on Chinese nationals living in Canada.
