FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency is investigating a Chinese police location in New York City.
The location is one of a growing number of global places that China is setting up worldwide.
NEW: FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed the bureau is investigating the Chinese government’s apparent efforts to set up police stations in the United States, saying he was “very concerned” about Beijing’s “outrageous” transnational repression schemes.https://t.co/1W7JAXbO0D
— Jerry Christmas 🎅🏼🎄 (@JerryDunleavy) November 18, 2022
The investigation
“Investigations in the U.S. and in Europe, Canada, and elsewhere were spurred by Safeguard Defenders, a nonprofit organization, releasing a September report on ‘Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild,'” the Washington Examiner reported.
The report noted that there are “54 overseas Chinese police service stations operating in 30 countries across five continents had been uncovered by the group so far, including in New York City.”
FBI’s director says he finds Chinese police station in NYC “concerning” https://t.co/EDmtHAnzpd
— Republic (@republic) November 18, 2022
Wray’s concern
“We are aware of the existence of these stations. I have to be careful about discussing our specific investigative work, but to me, it is outrageous to think that the Chinese police would attempt to set up shop, you know, in New York, let’s say, without proper coordination,” Wray said at a Senate hearing.
“It violates sovereignty and circumvents standard judicial law enforcement cooperation processes,” he added.
Chinese ‘police station’ in NYC that spies on dissenters run by shady charity on IRS blacklist https://t.co/NYy9xmESHn
— Maibort Petit (@maibortpetit) November 10, 2022
The FBI is both aware of the problem and claims to be investigating it, but the presence of the Chinese location is concerning regardless.
The problem adds to other China issues, including recent reports of TikTok collecting data from American users of the platform.
The growing controversies with China have surged in recent years, with seemingly little response from the Biden administration.