NYT "Secret Police Station in Manhattan Chinatown"
Amid controversy over a Chinese restaurant suspected to be a base for the overseas 'Chinese secret police station' in South Korea, an office with a hometown association signboard has also been identified in New York, USA.
Building with Malatang Signboard... Glass Wall Displays 'American Changluo Association'
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 12th (local time), the location identified as a Chinese secret police station in the United States is in a six-story building located in Manhattan's Chinatown.
On the first floor of the building with the Malatang signboard, a directory lists tenants such as an acupuncture clinic, an engineering company, and an accounting firm, but the third floor, reportedly used by Chinese police, is marked as vacant. However, when viewed from outside the building, a sticker on the glass wall of that floor can be seen, indicating the 'American Changluo Association,' referring to the hometown association of Changluo from Fujian Province, China.
NYT cited sources saying that last fall, the counterintelligence division of the FBI, together with the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's Office, conducted a raid on an office suspected to be a secret police station. However, the target of the raid was not confirmed.
Chinese Embassy Refutes: "A Place to Help Chinese People"
The building in Chinatown identified as the Chinese secret police station (the second glass-walled building from the left). [Photo source=Google Maps]
The Changluo Association was established in 2013 with the purpose of providing a meeting place for Chinese people from Fujian Province, and it is known to have leased office space for $1.3 million (approximately 1.6 billion KRW) in 2016. The association's president, Lu Jianxun, is reported to run a food service business in Queens, New York.
The Changluo Association also held a fundraising event last year for political donations to New York Mayor Eric Adams, and it was confirmed that President Lu personally donated $4,000 (approximately 5 million KRW).
The Chinese Embassy in Washington DC refuted the claims about the Changluo Association in Chinatown being a secret police station, stating, "It is a place to help Chinese people living in the United States, and the people working there are not Chinese police officers."
However, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the Senate Homeland Security Committee in November last year, in response to questions about the secret police station allegations, "We are aware of the existence of those police stations" and added, "We are very concerned."
NYT also confirmed that Chinese authorities proposed joint training with the New York Police Department (NYPD). However, the FBI reportedly judged that such a request was an attempt by Chinese police to formalize illegal activities such as intimidation and surveillance in the U.S. under the pretext of joint training with the NYPD.
Chinese Restaurant Located in South Korea Also Suspected as 'Secret Police Station'
On the afternoon of December 29 last year, a Chinese restaurant in Seoul held a press conference to clarify after being identified as a domestic base for China's "secret police station" operating overseas. Earlier, the European human rights organization 'Safeguard Defenders' stated in a report that "China operates more than 102 secret overseas police stations in 53 countries, including South Korea." These overseas secret police stations have been monitoring Chinese people and repatriating dissidents and ethnic minorities to their home country. The owner of the Chinese restaurant suspected as a base in Seoul along the Han River said, "We only supported the return of 10 Chinese people who died or were injured in South Korea."
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