US accuses China of spying with secret 'police station' in middle of New York
The United States has accused China of spying on American soil using a secret 'police station' in the middle of New York City to harass dissidents.
In a major move, two men have been arrested on charges that they helped establish the secret police outpost in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, the US Justice Department said.
More than three dozen officers with China's national police force have also been charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States.
According to official documents, a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security was being run inside an office building in Manhattan's Chinatown neighbourhood before closing last Autumn amid an FBI investigation.
Michael Driscoll (R), Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI's New York field office, and United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace announcing charges (JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)The two men charged with setting up the outpost were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official.
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They deleted communication with that official from their phones after becoming aware of the investigation, according to the Justice Department.
The men, identified as "Harry" Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were arrested at their homes on Monday morning. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers who could comment on their behalf.
The secret police station was setup in an office building in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood (Getty Images/Westend61)At no point did the men register with the Justice Department as agents of a foreign government, U.S. law enforcement officials said.
And though the police outpost did perform some basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver's licences, it also performed a more "sinister" function, including helping the Chinese government locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California, according to the officials.
"New York City is home to New York's finest: the NYPD," US Attorney Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said at a news conference announcing the arrests.
Assistant Director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office David Sundberg (AFP via Getty Images)"We don't need or want a secret police station in our great city."
The two cases, taken together, are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing's policies.
Tensions between the two superpowers have been fraught after a number of Chinese 'spy balloons' were shot down over the US.
Chinese authorities claimed it was actually a civilian “airship” used for meteorological research and due to its limited steering capability, it had “deviated far from its planned course” after being blown off course.
While defence officials said the balloon’s current flight path carries it over “a number of sensitive” military sites, it is believed that US President Joe Biden decided against shooting it out of the sky due to risks of falling debris.
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