As far back as two years ago, we were reporting here at PJ Media that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might be running secret Chinese police stations in American cities. Even though the CCP wanted us to believe that these entities were convenience centers for Chinese nationals, it became obvious that these stations were a little slice of Red Chinese authoritarianism in the U.S.
In October 2022, my PJ Media colleague Kevin Downey, Jr. first brought this to our attention:
The human rights watchdog group Safeguard Defenders is claiming that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has established a network of Chinese police stations across the globe, including three in Toronto and one in New York City. The Chinese initially asserted that the police stations were there to help their nationals do things like keep their driver’s licenses current, which they can do at their embassy.
Soon after, they added the goal of stopping “online” and “telecom fraud,” but it’s starting to look like the Chinese are using these police stations to spread Chinese propaganda and keep an eye on anyone who dares disagree with the Commies back in China. Many Chinese nationals have been “persuaded” into returning home to face “charges.”
A Chinese man living in the Big Apple pleaded guilty this week to helping set up one of those Chinese secret police stations in the city. The man and his co-defendant began setting up a “branch of China’s Ministry of Public Security,” as the Associated Press describes it, in Chinatown in early 2022.
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From the AP report:
Chen Jinping, 60, entered the guilty plea on a single count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday.
Matthew Olsen, an assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice, said Chen admitted in court to his role in “audaciously establishing an undeclared police station” in Manhattan and attempting to conceal the effort when approached by the FBI.
“This illegal police station was not opened in the interest of public safety, but to further the nefarious and repressive aims of the PRC in direct violation of American sovereignty,” he said in [a] statement, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Chen and his co-defendant, Lu Jianwang, “performed basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver’s licenses, but also identified pro-democracy activists living in the U.S., according to federal authorities.” The duo shuttered their operation in the fall of 2022 when the FBI began investigating “transnational repression,” and they deleted communications with CCP officials from their devices as the investigation heated up.
Prosecutors contend that Lu threatened a Chinese fugitive living in the States and helped CCP officials track down a pro-democracy activist living on the West Coast. Lu’s trial will begin in February, while Chen will face sentencing, which could include five years in prison, in May.
The BBC adds that Chen and Lu aren’t the only Americans with CCP ties who the feds are targeting:
In September, Linda Sun, a former aide in the New York governor's office, was charged with using her position to serve Chinese government interests. She was said to have received benefits, including travel, in return.
Last year, 34 officers from the MPS were also charged with using fake social media accounts to harass Chinese dissidents in the US and spread official Chinese government propaganda.
For once, the Biden Justice Department is doing something right. Let’s get rid of literal Communist influence in this country once and for all.
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