A US citizen has pleaded guilty to helping run what was described as the first known secret police station in the United States on behalf of the Chinese government.
Prosecutors say Chen Jinping and his defense partner Lu Jianwang opened and operated the station in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood in early 2022 on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
At least 100 such stations have been reported worldwide in 53 countries, with human rights groups accusing China of using the outposts to threaten and monitor Chinese citizens abroad.
But China denied that these were police stations, saying they were “service centers” providing administrative services to citizens abroad.
Federal authorities say the site, which occupies an entire floor above the ramen kiosk, provides basic services such as renewing driver's licenses for Chinese citizens, but has also helped Beijing identify pro-democracy activists living in the United States.
Matthew Olsen, Assistant Attorney General at the US Department of Justice, called the attempt to operate the undeclared police station abroad a “clear affront to American sovereignty and a danger to our society that will not be tolerated.”
The station was closed in the fall of 2022 after the FBI began an investigation.
But Chen and Lu destroyed text messages they exchanged with a Police Department official when they learned of the investigation, prosecutors said.
The two men were both American citizens He was arrested in April last year.
Chen, 60, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to act as an agent for China, and faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced next year.
Robert Wells, executive assistant director of the FBI's National Security Branch, said Chen's guilty plea is “a stark reminder of the (Chinese) government's malicious efforts to threaten, harass, and intimidate those who speak out against their Communist Party.” statement.
Lu, 59, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Prosecutors accused him of harassing an alleged Chinese fugitive to return to China and helping locate a pro-democracy activist in California on behalf of the Communist Party.
At the time of Chen's arrest, authorities said this was the first time the United States had brought criminal charges in connection with such police outposts.
Olsen said that US authorities “will continue to pursue anyone who attempts to assist the People's Republic of China's efforts to expand its repressive influence into the United States.”
In September, Linda Sun, a former aide in the New York governor's office, was indicted Using her position to serve the interests of the Chinese government. In return, she was said to have received benefits, including travel.
Last year, 34 officers from the Ministry of Public Security were also accused of using fake social media accounts to harass Chinese dissidents in the United States and spread official Chinese government propaganda.
