(NewsNation) — China denied all accusations of an overseas police presence and urged the United States to “abandon its Cold War mentality” at a press conference Tuesday after U.S. law enforcement arrested two men in New York for establishing a secret police station.
“We have made it clear many times that the allegation has no factual basis,” spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin said. “There are simply no so-called overseas police stations.”
Recent arrests by federal law enforcement suggest otherwise.
U.S. Authorities arrested “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, and Chen Jinping, 59 — both U.S. citizens — at their homes Monday morning.
The two men are charged with conspiring to act as agents of China’s government as well as obstructing justice for allegedly operating a secret police station in an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
“The (People’s Republic of China), through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Wang maintained that China does not interfere in other countries’ sovereignty.
This week’s arrest is just the latest crackdown on Chinese interference in the U.S.. Last year, the Department of Justice charged five men with stalking, harrassing and spying on political dissendents in the United States.