Authorities in the United States have arrested two men on charges of operating a “secret police station” in New York City on behalf of China.
The US Justice Department announced the charges at a news conference Monday, saying Liu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, will open the secret police station 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 against members of the Chinese diaspora community in New York City and elsewhere in the United States” at Beijing’s behest.
Both were charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Chinese government without notifying US authorities, as well as obstruction of justice.
The second charge involves the men who admitted to deleting correspondence with an official of China’s Ministry of Public Security after discovering they were under investigation, authorities said.
The Secret Police Bureau provided Chinese citizens “at the very least” with basic services from the Chinese government, Peace said, adding that this in itself would be against US law without prior approval.
However, he said the station “had a sinister use to it”.
“On at least one occasion, a China National Police officer directed one of the defendants, a US citizen who worked in the Secret Police Bureau, to assist in locating a Chinese-descended pro-democracy activist living in California. lives,” said Peace.
“In other words, the Chinese National Police appears to have used the station to track a US resident on US soil.”
Authorities said the police station was closed in the fall of last year after the men learned they were under investigation.
If convicted, the suspects both face up to five years in prison for conspiracy to act as agents of the Chinese government and up to 20 years for obstruction. They were scheduled to appear in court in Brooklyn later on Monday.
Spanish human rights organization Safeguard Defenders has said China has dozens of such secret police stations around the world, including in the UK and US.
In a report last September, the group said the stations were used to “harass, threaten, intimidate and force targets to return to China for prosecution.”
In October, the Dutch foreign ministry said it was investigating reports that the Chinese government had set up illegal police stations in the Netherlands to intimidate dissidents. Beijing called those reports “absolutely false”.
China has previously described the foreign outposts as gas stations for Chinese people who are abroad and need help with bureaucratic tasks, such as renewing their Chinese driver’s license.
Last month, the Chinese government accused Canada of tarnishing its reputation after Canada’s federal police announced it was launching an investigation into alleged Chinese police stations in the country.
“China strictly adheres to international law and respects the judicial sovereignty of all countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at the time.
Back in the US, Monday’s charges were among a series of actions announced by the US Justice Department against accused Chinese agents.
The measures come as relations between Washington and Beijing are increasingly strained by security in the Pacific, alleged espionage activities and Taiwan, among other things.
US federal authorities also announced two criminal charges on Monday against 44 people, including 40 Chinese National Police officers.
The accused “allegedly committed transnational repression” by targeting US residents “whose political views and actions are viewed unfavorably by the [Chinese] government, such as advocating for democracy in [China]”said the US.
In two separate schemes, the individuals created and used fake social media accounts to harass and intimidate Chinese dissidents living abroad.
A group of officers reportedly worked for the 912 Special Project Working Group, an elite task force charged with cracking down on Chinese dissidents around the world, authorities said.
That was largely done by creating thousands of fake online personas to target dissidents with propaganda and threats. Other agents targeted dissidents during online video conferences.
Justice Department official David Newman said the alleged plans amounted to a “multi-pronged campaign to expand the reach and impact of the authoritarian system into the United States and elsewhere in the world.”