The US Attorney General’s Office has charged two people with opening an illegal police station in Manhattan’s New York Chinatown, on behalf of China’s National Police, to monitor and harass Chinese residents critical of Beijing authorities .
In another case, the federal prosecutor’s office for the Eastern District of New York also charged 34 other alleged Chinese law enforcement officers with conducting a “massive campaign” on social media aimed at “threatening Chinese dissidents, dividing Americans and confidence” in the democratic process.
“In the heart of bustling Chinatown, in Lower Manhattan, a dark secret was hidden until a few months ago: an entire floor of a building was installed and not declared by a police station of the Chinese National Police,” the prosecutor said. . District Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace at a news conference.
Peace said that on at least one occasion, Chinese security forces questioned one of the two defendants in the case, who were arrested this morning, about the location of a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent who lived in the US state of California.
According to the prosecution, the two suspects admitted to deleting communications with Chinese police officials from their cell phones after learning that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had opened an investigation into them.
Those arrested are Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59, both New York residents who will appear before a federal judge in the city today for the first time.
Lu, who prosecutors say had been collaborating with China’s security system for several years, and Chen face charges of conspiracy to act as foreign agents and obstruction of justice over the alleged destruction of evidence of their communications with Chinese regime officials. .
As for the second case, it involves the complaint of 34 Chinese police officers belonging to a group called “Special Project 912”, which operates as a “core of ‘trolls'” acting “against democracy activists and dissident Chinese residents outside the People’s Republic of China,” said Peace.
The indictment alleges that this group created thousands of fake profiles on social networks that were used in a coordinated manner to harass, discredit and threaten dissidents and activists around the world: “Individuals considered by the People’s Republic of China to be threats to the legitimacy of the Chinese communist party”.
Among their activities, the prosecution highlighted the boycott of “online” meetings, forcing them to be interrupted, and also the fact that “they use their fake ‘online’ profiles to spread propaganda and the official narrative of the Chinese government.” spread, with the aim of combating and coercing dissidents who speak out for democracy”.
“We cannot and will not tolerate the Chinese government prosecuting pro-democracy activists who have taken refuge in this country. We want this lawsuit to be a reminder that we remain determined to suppress and intimidate any attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to to fight.” our residents,” emphasized the federal attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Source: DN
