The FBI has arrested two individuals accused of operating an unauthorized police station for the Chinese government in lower Manhattan. The suspects, "Harry" Lu Jianwang, 61, from the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, from Manhattan, are charged with conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government. They were arrested on Monday morning at their New York City residences.
In a statement, the FBI said, "The defendants worked together to establish the first overseas police station in the United States on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of the (Ministry of Public Security)."
Along with the New York complaint, two other complaints have been filed - one against 34 members of Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau and another against a group of 10 individuals, including eight Chinese government officials.
The three complaints share a common allegation: the suspects purportedly worked to intimidate, harass, and threaten "wanted" Chinese nationals within the United States.
The FBI revealed in November last year that it was aware of China operating an unofficial police station in Manhattan, outside proper procedure or authority, as part of a global network of such facilities. This disclosure followed a September 2022 investigation by Safeguard Defenders, a nongovernmental organization, which reported the existence of dozens of such centers worldwide conducting police operations.
Chinese officials contested this portrayal, claiming the "service centers" were run by volunteers and were unrelated to policing. However, in January, the New York Times reported that Chinese state media had explicitly described the centers as police facilities, operating in foreign countries without collaborating with local authorities. The Times also reported that the FBI had searched the East Broadway facility in the fall of 2022.
Kurt Ronnow, acting assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement, "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."