Two New York residents have been arrested and charged after allegedly running an illegal Manhattan police station for the Chinese government.

The pair face federal charges of operating the undeclared outpost in the Chinatown neighbourhood and conspiring to act as agents for Beijing, said the US attorney for the eastern district of New York.

The case is part of a wider effort by the Justice Department to crack down on Chinese government attempts to harass dissidents and stifle free speech in the US, officials added.

It comes as a complaint was filed in Washington against 34 members of Beijing’s Municipal Public Security Bureau, and another against a group of 10 people including eight Chinese government officials, NBC New York reported.

The common thread in the three complaints was that the suspects allegedly worked to intimidate, harass and threaten ‘wanted’ Chinese nationals inside the US.

The bureau said last November it was aware that China was running a de facto police station in Manhattan, outside of proper procedure or authority, as part of a global network of such outposts.

In the autumn of 2022, FBI counterintelligence agents searched the outpost’s offices, located on the third floor of a nondescript building on East Broadway, the New York Times reported.

COVID-19: PPE storage still costs taxpayers £580,000 a day, new figures reveal

Taiwan claims China is getting ready to ‘launch a war’ as Beijing issues ‘serious warning’ to Taipei

First human death from H3N8 bird flu recorded in China, WHO says

FBI director Christopher Wray has said the US was deeply concerned about the Chinese government setting up unauthorised ‘police stations’ in American cities linked to Beijing’s influence operations.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

China’s embassy in Washington responded by acknowledging the existence of volunteer-run sites in the US, but said they were not “police stations” or “police service centres”.

“They assist overseas Chinese nationals who need help in accessing the online service platform to get their driving licences renewed and receive physical check-ups for that purpose,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said.

“They are not police personnel from China. The US side should stop the groundless hyping of this issue,” he added.

The raid followed an investigation in September 2022 by a non-governmental organisation called Safeguard Defenders which reported there were dozens of such centres worldwide carrying out police operations.

Related posts:

‘It’s one and done’: Single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine cleared in the US ‘Hurtful and wrong’: Six Dr Seuss books to cease publication over racist imagery ‘Shocked and embarrassed’: Third woman accuses New York governor of inappropriate behaviour CNN fires Chris Cuomo for helping governor brother who faced sexual harassment claims Wildfires break carbon emission records in US, Siberia, and Turkey, as climate change fans intense blazes, says EU US imposes ‘Russia-like’ sanctions on Ireland’s notorious Kinahan crime gang Elon Musk ‘not sure’ Twitter takeover will succeed, but says he has ‘Plan B’ Elon Musk denies claims he sexually harassed a flight attendant in 2016 calling them ‘wild accusations’ Trump suing CNN as he claims defamation – and seeks $475m in damages Country music star Loretta Lynn dies aged 90 Kansas City Chiefs fight back to narrowly beat Philadelphia Eagles in classic Super Bowl ‘One dead and multiple injuries’ after shooting at US university – suspect ‘on foot’