US Federal Agent Arrests Two People Regarding China's Establishment Of A 'Secret Police Office' In New York

Illustration of Pixabay's arrest 4711018)

JAKARTA - The United States federal agency arrested two New York residents for allegedly operating China's "secret police station" in Manhattancurrency District on Monday, in what prosecutors said was part of a crackdown on alleged targeting dissidents in Beijing.

Lu Jianwang (61) and Chen Jinping (59) face charges of conspiring to act as Chinese Government agents, without informing US authorities and obstructing justice. They were released on bail following their first appearance in Brooklyn federal court.

A 2022 investigation published by Spain-based Advocacy Guard Defenders group reports China has set up a foreign "service station", including in New York, which is working illegally with Chinese police to pressure fugitives to return to China.

The Chinese government says there are centers outside China run by local volunteers, not Chinese police officers, which aim to help Chinese citizens update documents and offer other services.

The US Department of Justice has stepped up investigations into what it calls "transnational prosecution" by US enemies such as China and Iran, to intimidate political opponents living in the United States.

"We cannot and will not tolerate the persecution of the Chinese government against pro-democracy activists seeking refuge in the country," Breon Peace, a federal high prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters.

Prosecutors on Monday uncovered charges against 34 Chinese officials for allegedly operating "troll plantations" and harassing dissidents online, including by disrupting their meetings on US technology platforms.

They also added that eight Chinese Government officials as defendants in a case announced in 2020 demanded a former Chinese-based Zoom Video Communications Inc executive, disrupting a video meeting to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

"By starting the prosecution of Chinese citizens under the pretext of 'transnational prosecution', the US is carrying out long-term jurisdictions based on false accusations. This is mere political manipulation, and the goal is to tarnish China's image," said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the US.

Meanwhile, Lu and Chen are US citizens who lead a non-profit organization that lists its mission as a provider of social gathering places for people from Fujian Province, China, prosecutors said.

Before closing in the fall of 2022, the two men's operations in New York occupied a full floor in a simple building inkerja near the Manhattan bridge.

Peace said the site was used "at least" for government services such as helping some Chinese citizens renew their SIMs - activities that should have been disclosed to US authorities. However, he said it was also used for more "crime" activities.

In 2022, Lu helped open the so-called police station and was asked by the Chinese government to find someone living in California who is considered a pro-democracy activist, they added. In 2018, Lu tried to persuade someone China deems fugitive to go home, prosecutors said.

In addition, prosecutors said Lu and Chen confessed to the FBI they had removed their communications with a Chinese government official.

Earlier, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the US Senate committee in November he was "deeply concerned" about the presence of such stations in US cities.

It is known that prosecutors previously charged more than a dozen Chinese nationals and others with carrying out surveillance and harassment campaigns against dissidents living in the United States, including by trying to forcibly repatriate people deemed fugitives by China.