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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent

Explainer: China’s covert overseas ‘police stations’

Former office of the America ChangLe Association, described by US authorities as a Chinese secret police station masquerading as a social gathering place, in New York’s Chinatown
Former office of the America ChangLe Association, described by US authorities as a Chinese secret police station masquerading as a social gathering place, in New York’s Chinatown. Photograph: John Nacion/Shutterstock

The FBI this week arrested two men accused of running a covert overseas police operation in New York on behalf of Chinese authorities. The charges followed a raid on a Fujianese community centre in Chinatown in October 2022. Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, both US citizens, are accused of using the premises to run an “unofficial police station”.

Police in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada have opened investigations into similar allegations in their countries. On Wednesday, Chris Philp, a UK home office minister, said the outposts were “of great concern”.

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