US arrests two for running secret Chinese ‘police station’ in NYC

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Authorities in the United States have arrested two men on allegations they operated a “secret police station” in New York City on behalf of China.

The US Department of Justice announced the charges at a news conference on Monday, saying Liu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, opened the covert police outpost in Manhattan’s Chinatown in early 2022.

Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the men had engaged in “transnational repression targeting members of the Chinese diaspora community in New York City and elsewhere in the United States” at the behest of Beijing.

Both were charged with conspiring to act as an agent of China’s government without informing US authorities, as well as obstruction of justice.

The second charge relates to the men admitting that they deleted correspondences with an official from China’s Ministry of Public Security once they discovered they were being investigated, authorities said.

The secret police station “at the very least” provided Chinese citizens with basic Chinese government services, Peace said, adding that this in itself would run afoul of US law without prior approval.

China foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday disputed the US claims. China maintains a policy of non-interference in other countries and these alleged police stations do not exist, he said.