NEW YORK: A 60-year-old man pleaded guilty on Wednesday for his role in running a clandestine Chinese "police station" in New York as part of a campaign to monitor and harass US-based dissidents.
Chen Jinping, 60, faces up to five years in prison for conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Chen and another man, "Harry" Lu Jianwang, were arrested in April of last year and accused of operating a secret police station in Manhattan for China's Ministry of Public Security.
"Today's guilty plea holds (Chen) accountable for his brazen efforts to operate an undeclared overseas police station on behalf of (China's) national police force -- a clear affront to American sovereignty," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said.
Robert Wells, a senior FBI official, said Chen's case is "a stark reminder of the insidious efforts taken by the (Chinese) government to threaten, harass, and intimidate those who speak against their Communist Party."
"These blatant violations will not be tolerated on US soil," Wells said.
Lu has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said at the time of the arrests that China was involved in setting up secret police posts in countries around the world.
The two men set up the office in Manhattan's Chinatown at the behest of the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security, ostensibly to offer services like Chinese driver's license renewals, according to Peace.
But in fact their main job was to help track down and harass fugitive Chinese dissidents, US officials said.
Canada and several European governments have cracked down on similar "police stations."
The Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders first revealed the existence of such outposts around the world.
They often operate with little or no indication they are there -- though US officials said the Manhattan office had been visited by officials from the Chinese consulate in New York.
According to Safeguard Defenders, the "police stations" have been involved in pressuring Chinese nationals to return home to face criminal charges. - AFP
