Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of others with working to harass dissidents within the United States.
Department of Justice ( Photo: The Telegraph )
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested two US citizens, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, on charges of conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and obstructing justice
The two men are alleged to have operated an “undeclared police station” in New York City’s Chinatown. The US Justice Department has also announced charges against 34 officers of the national police of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for harassing Chinese nationals critical of the Chinese government who live in the US. The agents were part of an effort by the Chinese government called the “912 Special Project Working Group” to influence global perceptions of the PRC.
According to prosecutors, agents posted videos and articles targeting Chinese pro-democracy advocates in the US and used threats to intimidate people into skipping pro-democracy protests. In addition, federal prosecutors allege that an executive at a videoconferencing company conspired with others to disrupt a meeting on the platform commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre at the direction of the Chinese government.
Xinjiang “Julien” Jin, the executive, was previously charged by the Justice Department for the alleged plot, and the new complaint adds charges against nine additional individuals, including six Ministry of Public Security officers and two officials with the Cyberspace Administration of China.
The FBI believes that a secret physical presence in New York City was established by the PRC to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of the Chinese government
The secret police station was set up in early 2022 to identify, track, and intimidate Chinese dissidents within the United States. Prosecutors say that one such victim was an unnamed person living in California who reported to the FBI that they served as an adviser to a 2022 congressional candidate from New York State and was the target of a PRC pressure campaign.
The FBI has also stated that it is working with other countries to counteract the Chinese government’s interference in the US. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has dismissed the FBI’s claims about the alleged police station and called it an act of “political manipulation” by US authorities.
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