Chinese Secret Police Station in NYC: 34 Individuals Indicted and 2 Arrested by US Authorities

Two New Yorkers have been arrested, while 34 Chinese public security officials have been charged with allegedly operating a “secret police station” for China in Manhattan, New York City, according to a statement from the Brooklyn top federal prosecutor.

Prosecutors said Liu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, face charges of conspiring to act as an agent of the Chinese government without informing US authorities and obstructing justice. They are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn federal court later on Monday.

The accusations come as the US Department of Justice ramps up its investigation into what it calls attempts at “cross-border repression” by US adversaries such as China and Iran to terrorize political opponents living in the US.

“This trial exposes the Chinese government’s flagrant violation of our nation’s sovereignty by setting up a secret police station in downtown New York,” Brion Pace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement.

Prosecutors said that in 2018 Liu sought to persuade a person considered a fugitive by China to return to their home country. Prosecutors said this person reported being harassed and threatened.

Prosecutors said that in 2022 the Chinese government asked Liu to help locate an individual living in California who was considered a pro-democracy activist.

Prosecutors said the two admitted to the FBI that they deleted their contacts with a Chinese government official after learning they were under investigation.

Federal prosecutors have charged more than a dozen Chinese nationals and others with campaigns of surveillance and harassment against dissidents living in the United States, including by attempting to forcibly return Chinese defectors.

The accusations come after FBI Director Christopher Wray told a US Senate committee in November that he was “very concerned” about the presence of such stations in US cities.

He said the Chinese government’s establishment of a police presence in the United States “violates sovereignty” and circumvents law enforcement cooperation.