SAHARA REPORTERS
Chen Jinping, 60, a Chinese national residing in the US, has admitted to running an undeclared police station for the Chinese government in Manhattan, New York.
This comes more than a year after the US Department of Justice initiated efforts to curb Beijing’s attempts to locate and suppress Chinese American pro-democracy activists, The Guardian UK reports.
On Wednesday, Chen pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in establishing and operating an overseas police station for the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
The guilty plea was part of charges linked to his illegal actions, which could result in a prison sentence of up to five years when he is sentenced in 2025.
US Attorney Breon Peace highlighted that Chen was involved in a “transnational repression scheme to establish a secret police station in the middle of New York City on behalf of the national police force of the People’s Republic of China.”
Peace further stressed that US authorities have made it a priority to “counteract the malign activities of foreign governments that violate our nation’s sovereignty by targeting local diaspora communities in the United States.”
FBI Assistant Director James Dennehy echoed these sentiments, stating that Chen admitted to helping establish the illegal police station, which was used “to further the nefarious and repressive aims of the PRC in direct violation of American sovereignty.”
Chen and his co-defendant, 62-year-old Lu Jianwang, who are both US citizens, were arrested and charged in April 2023 with acting as foreign agents. Lu has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
While the secret police station offered basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their driving licenses, US officials revealed that its primary purpose was more “sinister.”
It was involved in assisting the Chinese government in locating a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California.
The arrests come after the US Justice Department charged over half a dozen individuals in 2020 for working on behalf of the Chinese government to pressure a New Jersey man, wanted by Beijing, into returning to China.
In September 2023, Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, was charged with secretly acting as an agent for the Chinese government. These arrests are part of a wider concern about Chinese influence over US policy and efforts to pressure US-Chinese nationals domestically.
Prosecutors assert that Chen and Lu acted under the direction and control of the MPS when establishing the illegal station. The facility, which closed in the fall of 2022, occupied an entire floor of an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
In October 2022, the FBI raided the facility, seizing phones belonging to both Chen and Lu.
Subsequent analysis revealed that communications between the defendants and an MPS official had been deleted, suggesting an effort to cover up their activities.
This case highlights ongoing US efforts to defend its sovereignty and protect diaspora communities from foreign interference, particularly from China.
Authorities remain focused on uncovering and disrupting foreign influence operations aimed at manipulating American policy and suppressing activism within the Chinese-American community.
