A New York City resident has pleaded guilty to operating an undisclosed Chinese government police station in the Chinatown section of Manhattan.
Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced on Wednesday that Chen Jinping pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of the government of China.
“A priority of my office has been to counteract the malign activities of foreign governments that violate our nation’s sovereignty by targeting local diaspora communities in the United States,” Peace said. “Today, a participant in a transnational repression scheme who worked to establish a secret police station in the middle of New York City on behalf of the national police force of the People’s Republic of China has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal agent. We will continue our efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable persons who come to this country to escape the repressive activities of authoritarian regimes.”
Peace’s office said in a press release that Chen and co-defendant Lu Jianwang not only acted as illegal agents of the Chinese government, but also obstructed justice by destroying evidence of their communications with a Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) official.
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The two men worked together to establish the first known overseas police station in the U.S., the release noted.
While the police station closed in the fall of 2022, it occupied an entire floor in an office building in Chinatown.
Chen and Lu were accused of helping to open and operate the secret facility.
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The FBI executed a search warrant on the illegal police station in October 2022. During the search, agents interviewed Lu and Chen, while also seizing their phones.
When agents searched the phones, they discovered communications between the two men and the MPS official had been deleted.
Although Chen – who now faces up to five years in prison – has pleaded guilty to the charges, his alleged accomplice has not and is awaiting trial.
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In a video recorded in March 2023, Lu appeared to be standing alongside New York City Mayor Eric Adams at an event where Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also spoke.
Adam’s office told Fox News at the time that the mayor’s attendance at an event is to either show support for a local community or the city and does not signal any kind of endorsement.
A spokesperson for Adams also said the mayor does not know Lu.
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Schumer’s office also stated that the federal lawmaker had never met Lu and did not know who he was.
The event was a fundraiser for the Fukien American Association, a cultural nonprofit linked to the Chinese province.
In April 2022, Lu also met New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng at a fundraising event, according to The Daily Caller, citing images the outlet found.
Records show that since 2006, Lu has contributed at least $32,625 to New York elected officials, including Adams and New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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