A Manhattan resident pleaded guilty to establishing a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government. The station, located in Chinatown, was used to identify pro-democracy activists and other dissidents.
A Manhattan resident has pleaded guilty to helping establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government. Chen Jinping, 60, entered the guilty plea on a single count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday. Matthew Olsen, an assistant attorney general in the U.S.
Department of Justice, said Chen admitted in court to his role in “audaciously establishing an undeclared police station” in Manhattan and attempting to conceal the effort when approached by the FBI. “This illegal police station was not opened in the interest of public safety, but to further the nefarious and repressive aims of the PRC in direct violation of American sovereignty,' he said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China. Prosecutors say Chen and his co-defendant, Lu Jianwang, opened and operated a local branch of China’s Ministry of Public Security in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood starting in early 2022. The office, which occupied an entire floor of the building, performed basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver’s licenses, but also identified pro-democracy activists living in the U.S., according to federal authorities. The clandestine Chinese police operation was shuttered in the fall of 2022 amid an FBI investigation. But in an apparent effort to obstruct the federal probe, Chen and Lu deleted from their phones communications with a Chinese government official they reported to, prosecutors said. China is believed to be operating such secretive police outposts in North America, Europe and other places where there are Chinese communities. The country, however, has denied that they are police stations, saying that they exist mainly to provide citizen services such as renewing driver’s license
Secret Police Station China Manhattan FBI Foreign Espionage
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chinese Operative Pleads Guilty to Acting as Illegal Agent in USChen Jinping, 60, admitted to removing online content critical of a purported Chinese police station in New York City and assisting in locating dissidents living in the US. He faces up to five years in prison for his actions.
Read more »
Manhattan Man Pleads Guilty to Aiding Chinese Secret Police Station in NYCA Manhattan man pleaded guilty to aiding the establishment of a secret police station in New York City operated by the Chinese government.
Read more »
Chinese citizen pleads guilty to abduction, assault of Bellevue man as part of human smuggling ringA Chinese national pleaded guilty Monday to charges of kidnapping and assaulting a Bellvue man, U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said.
Read more »
Manhattan Resident Pleads Guilty to Running Secret Chinese Police StationChen Jinping, 60, admitted to establishing an undeclared police station in Manhattan on behalf of the Chinese government and attempting to conceal the operation from the FBI. Prosecutors say the station, located in Chinatown, helped Chinese citizens with services like renewing driver's licenses but also targeted pro-democracy activists in the U.S.
Read more »
Stourton team rooms owner fined for extensive mouse infestationPeter McGovern, of Willow Tree Tea Rooms, pleads guilty to food safety and hygiene failings.
Read more »
Father of 14-Year-Old Georgia School Shooting Suspect Pleads Not GuiltyColin Gray pleads not guilty in Apalachee High School shooting case
Read more »