New York Man Chen Jinping Admits to Helping Manage "Chinese Secret Police Station"

New York and Washington D.C. -- Manhattan resident Chen Jinping has pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge related to running a secret Chinese police station in New York.

Chen, a U.S. citizen, assisted with administrative tasks at the secret police station in Manhattan's Chinatown in 2022.

The station was set up by officials from the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau, which is subordinate to China's Ministry of Public Security, to intimidate and suppress critics of the Chinese government in New York, according to U.S. prosecutors.

Chen appeared in court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, the first person to go on trial in connection with these overseas outposts.

More than 100 Chinese police outposts have apparently been established in cities around the world.

Chen, 61, pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, for which he faces up to five years in prison.

[caption id="attachment_1240" align="alignright" width="300"] Chen Jinping admits to acting as an agent for China's overseas police station in New York[/caption]

Safeguard Defenders, a Spain-based human rights group, first reported on the establishment of police stations in Chinatown and elsewhere around the world in a 2022 report.

"I hope that the outcome of cases like this will encourage more victims of the People's Republic of China's transnational repression to come forward," Laura Harth, campaign lead at Safeguard Defenders, told RFA, referring to the People's Republic of China.

"I also hope that the 53 countries where 'overseas police stations' have been exposed will take note and act," she said. "This case is a warning to anyone considering assisting the CCP's clandestine operations: there is no upside to doing so."

Chen Jinping was arrested in April 2023. He was charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty to the second charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30, 2025.

Chen Jinping, a home health aide, appeared in court wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie before U.S. District Judge Nina Morrison in Brooklyn.

He stood and addressed the court, reading from a piece of paper. "I knowingly acted as a foreign agent," he said in Mandarin, translated by an interpreter from Fujian province.

When RFA asked him how he felt after his guilty plea, he just smiled.

According to prosecutors, Chen and another man also charged, Lu Jianwang, worked out of the outpost established within the scope of the American Chang Le Association, a non-profit organization in Chinatown.

RFA visited the association last year, and members of New York's Chinese community revealed that while the association helped some expatriates with paperwork and logistics, it also played a role in harassing others.

On Wednesday, in response to Chen's plea, community leader Zhou Fengshuo told RFA, "This is a representative case of the American system, where justice is served and evil is punished."

"We hope more overseas police stations will be shut down and investigated so that Chinese people living abroad will not be oppressed and threatened by the CCP," he added.

Lu Jianwang is scheduled to go on trial in 2025.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. did not respond to requests for comment by press time, but China's Foreign Ministry has previously denied the existence of overseas police stations.

Original English link: https://www.rfa.org/english/china/2024/12/18/secret-police-station-chen-jinping-guilty-new-york/