Six more Chinese overseas 'police stations' exposed in US after NYC FBI bust: Report

Earlier this week, the FBI aided in the closure of a secret Chinese "police station" in Manhattan and detained two suspected operatives. However, sources have told the NY Post that there are reportedly numerous other illegal establishments like this spread throughout the United States.

Safeguard Defenders, a Madrid-based human rights organisation, has released a recent report revealing the existence of another Chinese police station situated in an undisclosed location within New York City, in addition to the previously mentioned one above a noodle restaurant in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Furthermore, the report also exposed the presence of an outpost in Los Angeles. Last year, the same group had published a report documenting 100 covert Chinese police stations operating globally.

Apart from the cities of New York and Los Angeles, Safeguard Defenders has identified several other locations in the United States where Chinese "overseas service stations" operate, including San Francisco, Houston, Nebraska, and Minnesota. These stations are covertly run by the Chinese Communist party and are responsible for conducting surveillance on Chinese citizens across the globe.

“We found at least four listed in the US by PRC (People’s Republic of China) public security authorities, plus flagged an additional four overseas Chinese service centers in the US set up by the UFWD networks responsible for manning the stations,” a spokespersom for Safeguard Defenders told The Post on Tuesday.

Chinese 'police stations' disguising as NGOs: Report

The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is a Chinese governmental organization responsible for managing ethnic and religious issues outside of China's borders. As per reports by Safeguard Defenders, these police stations, whose agents purportedly conduct espionage on dissidents and other individuals, often operate under the guise of non-profit organizations and community associations.

In Chinatown, the police station was functioning under the auspices of the America ChangLe Association NY Inc., which owns the premises located at 107 East Broadway, as reported by The Post in October. The non-profit organisation, which describes itself as a "social gathering place for Fujianese people," purchased the suite of offices at the East Broadway location where the Fuzhou Police Overseas Chinese Affairs bureau was situated, for a sum of $1.3 million in 2016, according to filings.

Last year, the non-profit held an annual gala dinner, where New York City Mayor Eric Adams was the guest of honor. This event was not publicly disclosed on the mayor's official agenda. On Monday, the FBI apprehended two individuals, namely Harry Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, for allegedly creating the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security in China, which was operating at the East Broadway station.

As per a statement from the US Department of Justice, the two men, Harry Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, reportedly closed down the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security in China, located at the East Broadway station, last year, when they learned of a federal investigation into their activities.

“While acting under the direction and control of an MPS (China’s Ministry of Public Security) Official, Lu and Chen helped open and operate the clandestine police station,” said the DOJ statement. “None of the participants in the scheme informed the US government that they were helping the PRC government surreptitiously open and operate an illegal MPS police station on US soil.”