US Attorney arrests two for 'conspiring' to act as Chinese spies

DOJ accuses China of using illegal police station in New York City’s Chinatown to spy on and ‘harass’ dissidents inside the US: FBI arrest two men on ‘espionage charges’ for targeting pro-democracy activist in California

  • Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, are set to appear at a Brooklyn federal court on Monday
  • Prosecutors say the illegal police station to ‘silence and harass’ individuals across America 
  • The DOJ announced three cases that accuse the Chinese government of spying in the US 

The Department of Justice has accused China of using an illegal police station in downtown Manhattan to spy on and harass dissidents on US soil. 

US attorney for the Eastern District of New York confirmed that two men have been arrested in connection with the station in New York City’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, were both arrested on Monday morning at their addresses in New York. 

They have been charged with conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government, and are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn.

Prosecutors say Jianwang tried to persuade a Chinese fugitive to return home, and continually ‘harassed and threatened’ the individual in 2018.

The US attorney for the Eastern District of New York confirmed that two residents have been arrested in connection with the station in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood

In 2022 China’s government asked Jianwang to locate a pro-democracy Chinese activist living in California.

The pair admitted to the FBI that they deleted their communications with a Chinese government official after discovering they were under investigation.

Both are accused of running the station for a provincial branch of the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). 

If convicted of conspiring to act as agents of the PRC, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

An obstruction of justice charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the Counterintelligence Division said in a press conference on Monday: ‘It is simply outrageous that China’s Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on U.S. soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law.

‘This case serves as a powerful reminder that the People’s Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they don’t want anyone to hear.’

In addition to the case in New York, the Department of Justice announced two other cases accusing dozens of Chinese nationals of spying on US soil. 

Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, were both arrested on Monday morning at their addresses in New York. They ran the secret police station above a ramen store in Manhattan’s Chinatown  

One is against 34 members of Beijing’s Municipal Public Security Bureau (MPSB), and another against a group of 10 people that includes eight Chinese government officials.

Members of the MPSB are accused of creating fake social media accounts across various platforms to harass Chinese dissidents in the US and to promote propaganda from China – including relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The third case involves Chinese security officials allegedly spying on Zoom calls and then harassing those that they identified as targets.

Ten Chinese officials were charged with conspiracy along with an employee of a telecommunications company.

Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement: ‘This prosecution reveals the Chinese government’s flagrant violation of our nation’s sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City.’ 

This is a developing story.  

Source: Read Full Article