Chen Jinping, 60, faces up to five years in prison for conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Chen and another man, "Harry" Lu Jianwang, were arrested in April of last year and accused of operating a secret police station in Manhattan for China's Ministry of Public Security.
"Today's guilty plea holds (Chen) accountable for his brazen efforts to operate an undeclared overseas police station on behalf of (China's) national police force -- a clear affront to American sovereignty," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said.
Robert Wells, a senior FBI official, said Chen's case is "a stark reminder of the insidious efforts taken by the (Chinese) government to threaten, harass, and intimidate those who speak against their Communist Party."
"These blatant violations will not be tolerated on US soil," Wells said.
Lu has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said at the time of the arrests that China was involved in setting up secret police posts in countries around the world.
The two men set up the office in Manhattan's Chinatown at the behest of the Fuzhou branch of the Ministry of Public Security, ostensibly to offer services like Chinese driver's license renewals, according to Peace.
But in fact their main job was to help track down and harass fugitive Chinese dissidents, US officials said.
Canada and several European governments have cracked down on similar "police stations."
The Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders first revealed the existence of such outposts around the world.
They often operate with little or no indication they are there -- though US officials said the Manhattan office had been visited by officials from the Chinese consulate in New York.
According to Safeguard Defenders, the "police stations" have been involved in pressuring Chinese nationals to return home to face criminal charges.
Woman loses lawsuit against UK intel services over China spy claims
London (AFP) Dec 17, 2024 -
A woman accused of "political interference" in the UK on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party lost a legal claim on Tuesday against Britain's domestic intelligence services.
Christine Lee had sued the country's MI5 security services for racial discrimination after they issued an alert in 2022, warning that she was a Chinese agent who had engaged with members of parliament.
The move came after Lee donated �500,000 ($635,000) to Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who headed a now-disbanded China-focused parliamentary group.
Three judges sitting at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal dismissed her claim, ruling MI5 had issued the warning for "legitimate reasons".
The UK government is under pressure to designate China a security threat and abandon a bid to reset ties with Beijing, after it emerged another alleged Chinese spy forged close links to Prince Andrew.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has sought greater engagement with China since taking power in July, said Tuesday the UK is "alert" to the "risks and challenges" it poses.
"We do have a strategy of engagement and that means where we co-operate on important issues like climate, we must do so," he also insisted.
Along with her son Daniel Wilkes, Lee had taken her case to the tribunal -- which hears complaints about surveillance by public bodies, primarily the intelligence services -- following the 2022 interference alert.
She argued it was issued for a "political purpose, namely to serve the interests of the Conservative party" which was in power at the time.
At a June hearing, lawyers for Lee said she "categorically" denied the allegations and that issuing the notice was unlawful.
However, the three judges unanimously rejected the claims that Lee and her son had been subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment due to MI5's warning.
"We are not satisfied that it reached the minimum threshold required for a breach," judge Rabinder Singh wrote in a 41-page ruling.
"We have reached the conclusion that the interference alert was issued in accordance with domestic law," he added.
"The national security risk posed by Ms Lee was rationally assessed and the issue of the interference alert falls within the national security functions of the Security Service."
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