After arrests were made in New York last week over an alleged illegal overseas police station, House Committee on Homeland Security chairs wrote to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for information on potential Chinese-operated stations nationwide.
“On April 17, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested two individuals for operating a Chinese police station in Lower Manhattan and obstructing justice by destroying evidence,” Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, MD (R-TN) and Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Subcommittee Chair August Pfluger (R-TX), wrote.
These actions stemmed from last week’s Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement that two men were arrested for allegedly creating a secret police station for a Chinese provincial police agency to collect information on opponents of the ruling Communist Party (CCP). It’s illegal to operate police stations for one’s country in the jurisdictions of others, and further, the DOJ claimed the two defendants also destroyed evidence when confronted by the FBI.
In an unsealed complaint, the DOJ accused Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping of conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and destroying evidence of their communications. However, the DOJ claimed this was the first overseas police station in the U.S. created on behalf of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). This is in contrast to what advocates such as the non-governmental organization Safeguard Defenders have been warning of for years.
“In a related case, the FBI charged 40 officers of China’s national police for their involvement in transnational repression schemes targeting U.S. residents, which is when foreign governments illegally stalk, intimidate, or assault people in the United States These two plots were designed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to harass Chinese nationals residing in the United States and suppress dissidents from speaking out against the CCP’s oppressive regime.”
Safeguard Defenders reported in September 2022 that there were 110 Chinese police stations anchored in countries across the world at that time, including in New York. The FBI noted it was investigating, ultimately leading to the April arrests. If proven true, it would represent a violation of U.S. sovereignty and, according to the lawmakers, a circumvention of both judicial and law enforcement cooperating procedures.
They honed in on the incident as a piece of a supposedly wider effort to suppress Chinese dissidents, undertake surveillance, and spread propaganda. Further, they tied it to the recent surveillance balloon incident, which ended when the U.S. military shot it down over open water, as an ongoing series of concerning moves by the CCP.
“The Committee is examining the persistent threats posed by the CCP to U.S. homeland security, in which the CCP continues to brazenly violate U.S. autonomy,” the lawmakers said. “While the New York Chinese police station has been shut down, our work to mitigate CCP threats to the homeland is far from over.”
As a result, they requested that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray detail when their agencies became aware of a Chinese police station operating in Manhattan and began an investigation, what actions DHS has taken to mitigate its effects, and if any action is being taken to root out any other Chinese-aligned police stations nationwide.