After the FBI arrested two men linked to a Chinese “secret police station” in New York, activists say there may be up to six more similar illegal outposts across the US.
In addition to the Manhattan outpost that closed Monday, Chinese police operate another station elsewhere in New York City, and one in Los Angeles, according to the A.J. New York Post Report citing advocacy group Safeguard Defenders.
Also, the Madrid-based group has identified so-called “overseas Chinese service centers” that allegedly provide community services in San Francisco, Houston, Minnesota and Nebraska.
While it is unclear whether these outposts are being used as secret police stations, Safeguard Defenders noted that Chinese security forces often use nonprofits and local communities as a front to spy on and harass dissidents abroad.
China’s Foreign Ministry has disputed the existence of such police stations, but has acknowledged what it says are sites run by volunteers in the United States and other countries to help Chinese citizens abroad with tasks such as renewing driver’s licenses.
Defense group Safeguard Defenders says China operates police stations in New York and Los Angeles, as well as four other cities with so-called ‘overseas Chinese service centres’.
A secret police station above this ramen shop in Manhattan’s Chinatown has been shut down by the FBI. Two men have been arrested in connection with the scheme
On Monday, Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were arrested at their addresses in New York.
Prosecutors say the two men set up an office in Manhattan’s Chinatown last year at the request of the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security, China’s national police force.
Both are US citizens, and have been charged with conspiracy to act as agents of the Chinese government.
Lu Jian Wang, 61, of the Bronx, was arrested Monday morning
Federal prosecutors have said the arrests are part of a crackdown on China targeting dissidents, which Beijing denies.
“We will not tolerate the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or any foreign government harassing or threatening American persons,” White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre told reporters at a regular briefing.
China called the arrests “political manipulation” and part of a false and biased smear campaign.
“China resolutely opposes the US side’s defamation and slander, engaging in political manipulation and malicious fabrication of the so-called cross-border oppression narrative,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.
He added, “We urge the United States to immediately think about itself, abandon Cold War thinking and ideological biases, immediately stop relevant malpractices, stop political manipulation, and stop smear attacks against China.”
US and Western authorities have warned that the Chinese government is applying increasing pressure to silence its critics abroad, frequently targeting people of Chinese descent through covert operations in attempts to suppress dissent, or forcing them to return to China where they may face retribution.
Human rights groups have also complained of threats to academic freedom and surveillance of Chinese students on international university campuses.
Lu Jianwang, 61, (third from left), and Chen Jinping, 59, (second from left), were arrested Monday morning at their addresses in New York.
Rick Waters, deputy assistant secretary for China and Taiwan affairs, told a separate US House of Representatives hearing that Washington was aware of China’s cross-border law enforcement within the borders of “dozens of countries.”
Waters said the United States is working through public diplomacy and “private diplomatic channels” with partners who have found the same problem in their own countries.
“We’ve been involved in a very extensive effort to share what we know and to develop tools and options for the most effective response to this unique aspect of China’s influence agenda,” Waters said.
Safeguard Defenders, a Europe-based human rights organization, published a report in September revealing the presence of dozens of Chinese police “service centers” in major cities around the world, including New York.
