The FBI has arrested two New Yorkers suspected of running a Chinese “secret police station” in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Brooklyn Attorney General Breon Peace made the announcement Monday.
Liu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, were charged with “conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government without notifying US authorities and obstructing justice”. The defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn later Monday.
“This lawsuit exposes the Chinese government’s gross violation of our country’s sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in downtown New York,” Breon Peace said.
The allegations come as the Justice Department steps up its investigation into China and Iran’s “transnational repression” on US soil. Beijing and Tehran try to intimidate their political opponents who live in the United States.
According to the prosecution, in 2018 Liu Jianwan tried to convince a man who had fled China to return to China. Prosecutors say the man said he was harassed and threatened.
Another episode against Liu Jianwan took place when the Chinese government asked him in 2022 to help find a man living in California who was considered a pro-democracy activist.
Prosecutors said the two defendants admitted to the FBI that they deleted their correspondence with a Chinese government official after learning they were under investigation.
Federal prosecutors have charged more than a dozen Chinese citizens and others with conducting surveillance and harassment campaigns against dissidents living in the United States, including attempting the forcible repatriation of people China considers to be fugitives.
In November 2022, during a Senate hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency was “very concerned” that illegal Chinese “police stations” were operating in major US cities.
Ray said the PRC government had essentially established a police presence in the US, “violating sovereignty” and bypassing US law enforcement.
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