▲ A building in Chinatown designated as a Chinese secret police station (the second glass-walled building on the left)


It has been confirmed that the secret police station set up by China in New York is hanging a signboard for the Hometown Association.



The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 12th (local time) that the place designated as the Chinese secret police station in the United States is located in a six-story building located in Manhattan's Chinatown.



On the information board in the building with the Maratang sign on the first floor, there is a list of resident companies such as acupuncturists, but only the floors used by the Chinese police appear to be blank.



However, if you check it from outside the building, you can see that a sheet of paper is attached to the glass wall, which reads 'Changle Society of America', which means Changle Hometown Association in Fujian Province, China.



Citing sources, the New York Times said that the FBI's counterintelligence department conducted a search and seizure of the offices of the Secret Police Department in conjunction with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, in the fall of last year.



The purpose of the FBI and prosecutors' search and seizure has not been confirmed.



Earlier, in October of last year, Brooklyn prosecutors indicted seven Chinese nationals who tried to blackmail a Chinese citizen living in the United States and his son in connection with the "Fox Hunt" operation, which is China's repatriation operation for fugitives.



The Changle Gonghoe was formed in 2013 with the intention of 'providing a meeting place for Chinese from Fujian Province', and in 2016, it was reported that it signed a contract for office space for 1.3 million dollars (approximately 1.6 billion won).



It is known that Lu Jian Shen, the president of the Fellowship Association, runs a restaurant business in Queens, New York.



The Changle Convention also held an event to raise political contributions to New York Mayor Eric Adams last year, and it was also confirmed that Chairman Lu personally donated 4,000 dollars (about 5 million won).



The NYT said that it was also confirmed that the Chinese authorities proposed to conduct joint training with the New York Police (NYPD).



However, it is known that the FBI judged that this request was made to formalize illegal activities such as intimidation and surveillance in the United States under the pretext of joint training with the NYPD by the Chinese police.



The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, responded to Chinatown's Changle Society, which was designated as a secret police station, saying, "It is a place to help Chinese people living in the United States, and the people who work there are not Chinese police officers."



But FBI Director Christopher Wray said he was "very concerned" when asked about the alleged secret police departments before the Senate Homeland Security Committee last November, saying he was "aware of their existence."



(Photo = Google Map Capture, Yonhap News)