FBI arrests men for operating covert Chinese police station in Manhattan

Two United States citizens were charged Monday with operating an illegal police station in New York City’s Chinatown for the People’s Republic of China. Federal prosecutors charged Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, with conspiring to act as agents of China by tracking a Chinese citizen living in the United States. In November, the FBI said it was aware that Beijing was operating an illegal police station in Manhattan. Both men were released on bail after appearing before a federal judge in Brooklyn. Chinese officials said the men were not involved in police activities.

Were there any other related charges filed? Another case filed Monday charged 34 officers of China’s national police with using social media to harass Chinese citizens living in the United States. Prosecutors also added eight PRC government officials as defendants in a 2020 case that claims a Zoom executive directed an employee to remove dissidents from the platform. All these defendants are believed to live in China.

Dig deeper: Read Erica Kwong’s report in World Tour about how covert Chinese outposts target dissidents abroad.