China

2 arrested in operation of NYC illegal Chinese ‘Police Station’

Published

5 months ago

April 17, 2023

Two individuals in lower Manhattan have been arrested and charged with conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government. The Federal Bureau of Investigations say the individuals are “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan. The two were arrested Monday morning at their homes in New York City.

The FBI says they helped operate an illegal police station for the Chinese Communist government in New York City’s China Town area.

“The defendants worked together to establish the first overseas police station in the United States on behalf of the Fuzhou branch of the (Ministry of Public Security),” the FBI said in a statement.

In addition to the New York complaint, two other complaints were filed – one against 34 members of Beijing’s Municipal Public Security Bureau, and another against a group of 10 people that includes eight Chinese government officials.

NBC New York reports:

The common thread in the three complaints – that the suspects allegedly worked to intimidate, harass and threaten “wanted” Chinese nationals inside the United States.

Last November, the FBI said it was aware that China was operating a de facto police station in Manhattan, outside of proper procedure or authority, as part of global network of such outposts. It followed a Sept. 2022 investigation by a nongovernmental organization, Safeguard Defenders, which reported there were dozens of such centers worldwide conducting police operations.

Chinese officials decried that characterization, saying the “service centers” were volunteer-run and had nothing to do with policing. But the New York Times reported in January that Chinese state media had explicitly described the centers as policing facilities, acting in other countries without collaborating with local authorities. The Times also reported that the FBI had searched the East Broadway facility in the fall of 2022.

“This case serves as a powerful reminder that the People’s Republic of China will stop at nothing to bend people to their will and silence messages they don’t want anyone to hear,” Kurt Ronnow, acting assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement.

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China

Electric Vehicle company with Chinese ties awarded $500 million of taxpayer money for 2nd U.S. plant

Published

1 week ago

September 18, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

With a little help from their Democrat friends, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party just announced the opening of its second plant in the United States.

Fox News reports Gotion Inc., whose parent company Gotion High-Tech is based in Hefei, China, unveiled plans to build a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Manteno, Illinois, alongside Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who cheered the project.

The announcement comes amid growing opposition to the company’s plans to build a billion-dollar factory in Mecosta County, Michigan.

In order to make the expansion happen, lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party-tied electric vehicle company funneled cash to Democrats. “Individuals at a law firm registered as foreign agents to lobby on behalf of Gotion, a Chinese electric vehicle battery company developing a controversial project in Michigan, and wired campaign contributions to several top Democrats” reports Fox News.

“According to state and federal filings, Monique Field-Foster, an attorney at the Lansing office of the Warner Norcross + Judd law firm who is acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Gotion, donated to the campaigns of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer’s sister Liz Gereghty and Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Rep. Elissa Slotkin” the Fox News report continued.

“With the right incentives, nation-leading infrastructure, world-class workforce and booming clean energy production, we have transformed ourselves into an attractive location for global manufacturers. Today, we take another leap forward. It’s my pleasure to welcome Gotion to Illinois and to show the world yet again that Illinois is ready to be a player on the world stage.”

Pritzker delivered remarks late last week thanking Gotion for choosing Illinois to call “home” in a ceremony with leaders from Gotion High-Tech, including Li Zhen, the company’s chairman and president, who said he expected the factory to open in less than 12 months.

“All that we see here [in Illinois] are of enormous value to us: an enabling business environment, a supportive state government for the new energy industry and their highly efficient work, as well as the prospects of the State of Illinois in the coming years,” the Gotion president added. “We believe that Gotion’s battery technology will help to boost e-mobility in North America and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the U.S.”