The FBI arrests suspected Chinese agents
Two suspects are said to have run an illegal “police station” in New York on behalf of Beijing. According to human rights activists, there are 102 such offices in 53 countries.
The latest action by the US Department of Justice is unlikely to improve relations between Washington and Beijing.
Photo: Charles Darback (AP/Keystone/Icon Image)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US Federal Police has arrested two suspected agents who were allegedly involved in an illegal “police station” operation in New York on behalf of China. According to the Ministry of Justice on Monday, the two suspects, aged 59 and 61, are accused of working for the Chinese government. It is also said that they destroyed evidence. The office in the Chinatown neighborhood was closed down last fall following investigations by the FBI.
According to this information, the two defendants belong to the New York boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. At first, the ministry did not comment on nationality. The first court sessions were scheduled for Monday. “The People’s Republic of China, through its repressive security apparatus, has established a hidden physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate opponents and critics of the government,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Department of Justice.
According to human rights activists, China operates more than a hundred offices around the world that are used as illegal “police stations”. Safeguard Defenders announced in December that 102 such facilities had been detected in 53 countries, including in Frankfurt. Beijing has repeatedly denied such reports. According to Safeguard Defenders, there are eleven offices in Italy alone and nine in Spain. In France there shall be four, in both Great Britain and the United States three.
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