Man Pleads Guilty in Connection with Alleged ‘Secret Chinese Government Police Station’ in NYC – One America News Network
OAN Staff Abril Elfi
4:50 PM – Wednesday, December 18, 2024
A man from New York City has admitted to operating a covert Chinese government police station located in Chinatown, Manhattan.
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On Wednesday, Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, reported that Chen Jinping, aged 60, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to serve as an agent for the Chinese government.
“One of my office’s priorities has been to confront the harmful activities of foreign governments that undermine our nation’s sovereignty by targeting local diaspora communities in the United States,” Peace stated. “Today, we have seen a participant in a transnational repression scheme who worked to create a clandestine police station in the heart of New York City on behalf of the national police force of the People’s Republic of China plead guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal agent. We will continue to strive for the protection of vulnerable individuals who come to our country to escape the repressive actions of authoritarian regimes.”
Peace elaborated in a press release that Chen, along with co-defendant Lu Jianwang, aged 61, acted as unlawful agents for the Chinese government, compromising justice by eliminating evidence of their communications with an official from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
The release further detailed that the duo played a key role in setting up the first known overseas police station in the United States, which reportedly occupied an entire upper level of a business building in Chinatown until its closure in fall 2022.
Both Chen and Lu faced charges for facilitating the establishment and operation of this secret facility. However, Lu has not yet entered a guilty plea. Chen also confessed to removing an online article about the police station at the request of his Beijing contacts in September 2022.
“I knowingly agreed to operate as a foreign agent for a foreign government,” he stated to Judge Nina Morrison, using an interpreter.
“At that time, I did not disclose to the attorney general that I was functioning as a foreign agent, and I was not registered as such,” he continued.
According to court documents, Lu’s case is still active, and he is accused of helping Chinese security officials in tracking down “dissidents” residing in the U.S.
In October 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at the illegal operation, interviewing both men and seizing their electronic devices. Federal authorities claimed that the pair attempted to conceal their actions by deleting messages with the Chinese MPS official upon realizing they were being investigated.
Chen’s sentencing is scheduled for May 30th, 2025. Jianwang has pleaded not guilty and is currently waiting for trial.
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