New York Resident Pleads Guilty to Operating Secret Police Station of the Chinese Government in Lower Manhattan

Chen Jinping, 60, of New York, New York, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in connection with opening and operating an undeclared overseas police station, located in lower Manhattan, for the PRC’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

“Today’s guilty plea holds the defendant accountable for his brazen efforts to operate an undeclared overseas police station on behalf of the PRC’s national police force — a clear affront to American sovereignty and danger to our community that will not be tolerated,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to pursue anyone who attempts to aid the PRC’s efforts to extend their repressive reach into the United States.”

“Today's acknowledgment of guilt is a stark reminder of the insidious efforts taken by the PRC government to threaten, harass, and intimidate those who speak against their Communist Party,” said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “These blatant violations will not be tolerated on U.S. soil. The FBI remains committed to preserving the rights and freedoms of all people in our country and will defend against transnational repression at every front.”

“A priority of my office has been to counteract the malign activities of foreign governments that violate our nation’s sovereignty by targeting local diaspora communities in the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “Today, a participant in a transnational repression scheme who worked to establish a secret police station in the middle of New York City on behalf of the national police force of the People’s Republic of China has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal agent. We will continue our efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable persons who come to this country to escape the repressive activities of authoritarian regimes.”

As alleged, Chen Jinping and co-defendant “Harry” Lu Jianwang conspired to act as illegal agents of the PRC government and also obstructed justice by destroying evidence of their communications with an MPS official. While acting under the direction and control of the MPS official, the defendants worked together to establish the first known overseas police station in the United States on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of the MPS. The police station — which closed in the fall of 2022 — occupied an entire floor in an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Lu and Chen helped open and operate the clandestine police station. None of the participants in the scheme informed the U.S. government that they were helping the PRC government surreptitiously open and operate an undeclared MPS police station on U.S. soil.

In October 2022, the FBI conducted a judicially authorized search of the illegal police station. In connection with the search, FBI agents interviewed both defendants and seized their phones. In reviewing the contents of these phones, FBI agents observed that communications between the defendants and an MPS official appeared to have been deleted. In subsequent consensual interviews, the defendants admitted to the FBI that they had deleted their communications with the MPS official after learning about the ongoing FBI investigation, thus preventing the FBI from learning the full extent of the MPS’s directions for the overseas police station.

Chen faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Per Chen’s plea agreement, the government has agreed to dismiss the obstruction of justice charge against him. Lu has pleaded not guilty to both of the charges against him and is awaiting trial.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon and Antoinette N. Rangel for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

The FBI has created a website for victims to report efforts by foreign governments to stalk, intimidate, or assault people in the United States. If you believe that you are or have been a victim of transnational repression, please visit www.fbi.gov/investigate/counterintelligence/transnational-repression.