US arrests 2, charges dozens more in alleged Chinese spying operation

WASHINGTON

Two alleged Chinese police officers have been taken into custody and 40 other Chinese National Police officers have been charged with a sprawling plot to spy on US-based dissidents, the Justice Department announced Monday.

The two men who were arrested early Monday morning were identified as New York City residents “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan. They are alleged to have helped China establish its first overseas police station for Beijing's Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

The clandestine station was closed in the fall of 2022 after its operators became aware of an FBI investigation, prosecutors said. It was based in Manhattan's Chinatown district.

“The PRC, through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement, referring to China by its formal acronym.

“This prosecution reveals the Chinese government’s flagrant violation of our nation’s sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City," he added.

The men are accused of destroying evidence of their communications with an MPS official ahead of their arrests.

Lu and Chen are being charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and obstructing justice. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of both charges.

Dozens of other individuals who remain at large were separately charged with carrying out two schemes on behalf of Beijing that sought to intimidate US-based dissidents "whose political views and actions are disfavored by the PRC government, such as advocating for democracy in the PRC."

Those charged include 40 MPS officers, two officials with the Cyberspace Administration of China, and one Chinese and one American employee of a US-based telecommunications company. All are believed to reside in China or elsewhere in Asia.