Two New Yorkers have been arrested on suspicion of operating an illegal Chinese government foreign police station that operated in Lower Manhattan. On this subject informed US Department of Justice.
The two suspects – “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan – were arrested on the morning of April 17 at their home, the same day they were due in court in Brooklyn.
The men were charged with ‘opening and operating an illegal police station overseas <…> for the benefit of the provincial branch of the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China”. In addition, the suspects are charged with obstruction of justice, because during the visit of the FBI agents, both tried to destroy documents compromising them.
The site occupied an entire floor of an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown. It opened in early 2022 and closed in the fall when Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping learned they were under investigation.
“The PRC, through its repressive security apparatus, has established a covert physical presence in New York to control and intimidate dissidents and those who criticize its government. The actions of the PRC go far beyond acceptable behavior. We will resolutely defend the freedoms of all who live in our country against the threat of authoritarian repression,” commented the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Homeland Security of the United States Department of Justice.
The attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in turn, said the case shows a “flagrant violation” by the Chinese government of US sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in downtown New York.
“Apparently the defendants and their associates were ordered to run errands in the PRC, including helping find a Chinese dissident living in the United States, and obstructed our investigation by deleting their posts. There is no place for such a police station here or in New York or in any American community,” he said.
The FBI’s acting assistant director for counterintelligence, Curt Ronnow, called it outrageous that “China’s public security department thinks it can get away with setting up an illegal secret police station on the American soil to aid his efforts to export repression and undermine our rule of law.” . “This incident is a powerful reminder that the People’s Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to its will,” he added.
According to Ronnou, Lu Jianwang has a long “trusted relationship” with Chinese law enforcement agencies, and since 2015, under the work of the “Secret Police Department”, he has been assigned to carry out various activities at UNITED STATES. , including “helping to carry out repressive actions”.
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