A Whole Floor of a NYC Building Was a Secret, ‘Illegal Police Station’ for China: DOJ

A whole floor of a building in New York City was once functioning as an “illegal police station” for the government of the People’s Republic of China, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

New York City resident Chen Jinping, 60, on Wednesday pleaded guilty in connection with the secret police station in Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown, according to a release from the DOJ.

“Today’s guilty plea holds the defendant accountable for his brazen efforts to operate an undeclared overseas police station on behalf of the PRC’s national police force — a clear affront to American sovereignty and danger to our community that will not be tolerated,” the release quotes Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

On Wednesday, Olsen said the federal Department of Justice “will continue to pursue anyone who attempts to aid the PRC’s efforts to extend their repressive reach into the United States.”

The police station closed in 2022 after an FBI search, the release says. Jinping his co-defendant Lu Jianwang – both U.S. citizens ‒ were initially arrested on April 17, 2023. {snip}

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