China ran a secret NYC police station to harass dissidents, prosecutors say

Ann Givens

Published Apr 17, 2023

Modified Apr 17, 2023

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Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Ann Givens

Published Apr 17, 2023

Modified Apr 17, 2023

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Two New Yorkers have been charged with operating a secret police station in Manhattan’s Chinatown for the purpose of repressing dissidents living in the United States on behalf of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors said Monday.

“Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were arrested at their homes Monday morning and later released on bond following an appearance in federal court in the afternoon, prosecutors said. They were charged with conspiring to act as agents of the People’s Republic of China and obstruction of justice, prosecutors said.

The police station occupied an entire floor in an office building, prosecutors said. It closed in the fall of 2022 after people running it learned that the FBI was investigating, prosecutors said. The office began as a place where Chinese citizens could do things like renew drivers licenses. But people working in the office were soon asked to track down at least one pro-democracy activist living in California.

In October 2022, police searched the police station, interviewed both Lu and Chen and seized their phones. The two both later admitted that they had deleted their communications with China’s Ministry of Public Security – an action prosecutors said connected to the obstruction charge.

“The allegations you just heard pull back the curtain on the [People’s Republic of China's] audacious and illegal attempts to harass dissidents and stifle free speech in our country,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “Today's charges send a crystal-clear response to the PRC that we are on to you. We know what you're doing, and we will stop it from happening in the United States of America.”

The defendants’ attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.

The arrests were among two cases announced by Peace’s office Monday involving harassment of dissidents by the Chinese government. In a second case, Peace said federal prosecutors charged 34 officers of the Chinese national police with creating thousands of online accounts under fake names on multiple social media platforms and using them to promote narratives that make the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China look good while attacking their perceived adversaries.

Prosecutors said they believe all those defendants live in the People’s Republic of China and remain at large.

Prosecutors said the officers of the PRC police disrupted pro-democracy activists' efforts to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre by posting threats in the chat of a videoconference marking the occasion. In another video conference organized by a pro-democracy activist, they flooded the event and drowned out the meeting with loud music, vulgar screams and threats, prosecutors said.

The arrests come as nationwide interest has swirled around Chinese intelligence efforts within the United States. In February, a U.S. fighter shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina after it had traversed much of the country. That action prompted a swirl of outrage in Washington, and it helped prompt the cancellation of a trip to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. China has argued that it was an off-course weather balloon, but newly leaked intelligence documents indicate it was one of at least five spy balloons spotted by the U.S. military.

Other foreign governments have been accused of operating within New York City in the recent past. In 2021, prosecutors charged four Iranian intelligence operatives with planning to kidnap a New York City-based Iranian-American journalist and outspoken critic of the regime. The U.S. Treasury later sanctioned Iran for the alleged plot. Iran also denied involvement.

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Chinatown

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