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Two men have been arrested by US prosecutors in New York for purportedly running a “secret police station” of China in the Chinatown area of Manhattan.
Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, two New York City residents, are facing charges of conspiring to act as agents for China and obstruction of justice.
The charges were brought by US prosecutors, who allege that the two men established the first overseas police station in the United States on behalf of China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood.
The station was closed in the fall of 2022 after becoming aware of an FBI investigation into the station.
China has denied operating the stations and called them “service centers” for Chinese nationals overseas. Lu and Chen are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday.
The US Department of Justice has arrested two men in New York, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, for allegedly operating a Chinese “secret police station” in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighbourhood.
They face charges of conspiring to act as agents for China and obstruction of justice, and if convicted, could face up to 25 years in prison.
The outpost was closed in 2022 after FBI investigation, and China has previously denied operating such stations, calling them “service centres” for nationals overseas.
The two men are accused of establishing the first overseas police station in the US on behalf of China’s Ministry of Public Security, and working on “repressive activities” including harassing Chinese dissidents.
Prosecutors also allege that they were deleting communications with an official from China’s Ministry of Public Security who was directing their behavior in the US.
The US Department of Justice has said that there are at least 100 such stations operating across the globe, with reports of them in 53 countries including the UK and the Netherlands.
Canadian federal police have also announced an investigation into two Montreal-area sites thought to be police outposts.