China may have up to six more illegal police stations in the US

After the FBI arrested two men in connection with a Chinese “secret police station” in New York, activists say there may be as many as six other similar illegal outposts in the US.

In addition to the Manhattan outpost that closed Monday, Chinese police operate another station elsewhere in New York City, and one in Los Angeles, according to a New York Post report citing the interest group Safeguard Defenders.

Also, the Madrid-based group has identified so-called “Overseas Chinese Service Centers” reportedly providing community services in San Francisco, Houston, Minnesota and Nebraska.

While it’s unclear if those outposts are being used as clandestine police stations, Safeguard Defenders noted that Chinese security forces often use nonprofits and community groups as a front to spy on and harass dissidents abroad.

China’s foreign ministry has disputed the existence of such police stations, but has acknowledged that they are reportedly volunteer-run sites in the US and other countries to assist overseas Chinese nationals with tasks such as renewing driver’s licenses.

A secret police office above this ramen shop in Manhattan’s Chinatown was closed down by the FBI. Two men were arrested in connection with the scheme

On Monday, Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were both arrested at their New York addresses.

Prosecutors say the two men set up the office in Manhattan’s Chinatown last year at the behest of the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security, China’s national police.

They are both US citizens and have been charged with conspiracy to act as agents for the Chinese government.

Lu Jianwang, 61, from the Bronx was arrested Monday morning

Federal prosecutors said the arrests were part of a crackdown on China’s attacks on dissidents, which Beijing denies.

“We will not tolerate the government of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) or any foreign government harassing or threatening any American person,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a regular news conference.

China called the arrests “political manipulation” and part of a false and biased smear campaign.

“China resolutely opposes the defamation, defamation, political manipulation and malicious fabrication of the so-called transnational repression narrative by the US side,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the foreign ministry.

“We urge the US to immediately reflect on itself, to let go of Cold War thinking and ideological biases, to immediately stop related wrongdoing, to stop political manipulation and to stop smear attacks against China” he added.

US and Western authorities have warned that the Chinese government is mounting increasing pressure to silence its critics abroad, often targeting people of Chinese descent through covert operations in attempts to quell dissent, or to return to China, where they may be punished.

Human rights groups have also complained about threats to academic freedom and the surveillance of Chinese students on international university campuses.

Lu Jianwang, 61, (third from left) and Chen Jinping, 59, (second from left) were both arrested Monday morning at their New York addresses

Rick Waters, deputy assistant secretary of state for China and Taiwan, told a separate U.S. House of Representatives hearing that Washington was aware of China’s transnational law enforcement within the borders of “dozens of countries.”

Waters said the US was working through public diplomacy and “private diplomatic channels” with partners who had identified the same problem in their country.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into sharing what we know and developing the tools and response options that are most effective for this unique aspect of China’s influence agenda,” Waters said.

Safeguard Defenders, a European-based human rights organization, published a report in September revealing the presence of dozens of Chinese police “gas stations” in major cities around the world, including New York.