A US person has entered a guilty plea to aiding in the operation of what has been hailed as the first official secret police station in New York for the Chinese authorities.
According to the prosecution, Chen and his accomplice Lu Jianwang, both of whom are government employees, founded and ran the station for the Chinese Ministry of Public Security ( MPS) in Chinatown in early 2022.
Rights groups accuse China of using the outposts to intimidate and check Chinese nationals living abroad, with reports of at least 100 stations being reported around the world in 53 countries.
But China has denied that they are police stations, saying they are” company channels” providing administrative service to citizens overseas.
The island, which occupied an entire floor above a chicken barn, did offer basic services like renewing Foreign citizens ‘ drivers licenses, but it also assisted Beijing in finding pro-democracy campaigners living in the US, according to federal government.
The effort to perform the undeclared outside police station was described as” a clear threat to American independence and harm to our area that will not be tolerated,” according to Matthew Olsen, an assistant attorney general in the US Department of Justice.
After the Federal Investigation Bureau opened an inspection, the train was shut down in the fall of 2022.
According to the prosecution, Chen Jinping and Lu destroyed the texts they exchanged with an MPS established when they learned of the investigation.
The men, who are both American citizens, were arrested in April last year.
On Wednesday, Chen, 60, pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent for China, and faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced next month.
Chen’s acknowledgement of guilt is a” stark reminder of insidious efforts taken by the]Chinese ] government to threaten, harass, and intimidate those who speak against their Communist Party”, Robert Wells, an executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch said in a statement.
Lu, 59, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting test. He has been charged with harassing a alleged Chinese runaway to return to China and with aiding in the Communist Party’s search for a pro-democracy activist in California.
Authorities said Chen’s incarceration was the first moment the US had filed criminal charges against such authorities bases.
According to Mr. Olsen, US officials would” continue to pursue everyone who attempts to bolster the PRC’s efforts to expand their restrictive reach into the United States.”
In September, Linda Sun, a previous secretary in the New York mayor’s office, was charged with using her position to serve Chinese state passions- receiving benefits, including journey, in profit.
34 MPS officers were even accused last year of using fake social media accounts to intimidate Chinese opposition leaders in the US and spread recognized Chinese state propaganda.