Chronicles Reporters
A Chinese national, Chen Jinping, 60, has confessed to operating an unregistered police station for the Chinese government in Manhattan, New York. The revelation comes over a year after the U.S. Department of Justice began efforts to counter Beijing’s attempts to track and suppress pro-democracy Chinese-American activists, according to The Guardian UK.
Chen pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) by setting up and running the clandestine police station on behalf of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The charges could result in a prison sentence of up to five years when he is sentenced in 2025.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace described the case as part of a broader “transnational repression scheme,” accusing Chen of working to establish the illegal station to further the aims of China’s national police force. Peace emphasized that the U.S. is committed to combating foreign interference that undermines national sovereignty and targets diaspora communities.
FBI Assistant Director James Dennehy noted that Chen’s admission exposed the station’s role in promoting “the repressive and unlawful objectives of the PRC.”
Chen and his co-defendant, Lu Jianwang, 62, both U.S. citizens, were arrested in April 2023 on charges of acting as foreign agents. While Chen has pleaded guilty, Lu maintains his innocence and is awaiting trial.
Although the secret police station provided basic services, such as assisting Chinese citizens with renewing driver’s licenses, U.S. officials revealed its darker purpose. It was allegedly used to locate and target a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California.
The arrests follow earlier actions by the Justice Department, which charged several individuals in 2020 for working on behalf of Beijing to coerce a New Jersey resident into returning to China.
The case also mirrors a separate incident in September 2023, when Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, was charged with secretly acting as an agent for the Chinese government. These developments reflect growing concerns over Beijing’s influence within the U.S.
Prosecutors assert that Chen and Lu operated under direct orders from the MPS. The illegal station, located in a Manhattan Chinatown office building, occupied an entire floor before it was shut down in the fall of 2022.
In October 2022, the FBI raided the facility and confiscated phones belonging to Chen and Lu. Investigators later discovered that communications between the defendants and an MPS official had been deleted, indicating an attempt to conceal their activities.
This case underscores the ongoing efforts of U.S. authorities to defend national sovereignty and protect diaspora communities from foreign influence. The government remains vigilant in uncovering operations aimed at manipulating American policy and suppressing activism within Chinese-American circles.
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