FBI arrests two New Yorkers accused of running covert Chinese police station

The alleged secret police station in New York was raided in October, and on Monday morning the FBI arrested two New Yorkers suspected of running it. China has insisted that the New York site and similar offices around the world are run by volunteers and are not connected with the police. Breon Peace, the US attorney for the eastern district of New York, said there was now evidence of direct ties.

The station provided some Chinese government services, like helping renew driving licences, but failed to register with the justice department as agents of a foreign government, the charges said.

A Spanish civil rights group, Safeguard Defenders, claimed last year that there are dozens of Chinese police stations in cities around the world, covertly carrying out surveillance and harassment. The alleged stations were mostly in Europe with nine in Spain, four in Italy, three in France, two in the Netherlands and three in the UK, in London and Glasgow, where their operations have been under police investigation. Three others were in Canada, where the alleged operations helped add to growing political tensions between Ottawa and Beijing.