(DCNF)—China is imposing its justice system on American soil using a web of U.S.-based nonprofits linked to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence agency, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.
Located throughout California, the greater Washington, D.C. area, Hawaii, and New York, the network of more than a dozen nonprofits share information with Chinese law enforcement officials, and some also host unsanctioned courtrooms in the U.S., a months-long investigation discovered. Although the Chinese government claims it appoints law enforcement officials overseas in order to more conveniently handle mundane matters like Chinese driver’s license renewal and international divorce cases, U.S. lawmakers and intelligence analysts say China’s underground courts could easily be weaponized to punish dissidents and expand communist influence abroad.
Liu Pengyu, a Chinese Embassy spokesperson, told the DCNF that “Chinese law enforcement agencies conduct foreign law enforcement cooperation strictly in accordance with international law, fully respect foreign laws and judicial sovereignty, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects in accordance with the law.”
However, the DCNF found that not only are all the identified nonprofits led by individuals working with a Chinese intelligence service called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), but some of their leaders have also explicitly discussed forced repatriation operations with Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials in China. Furthermore, several of the individuals appointed to operate overseas Chinese courts in the U.S. also belong to the nonprofit that ran a Chinese police station in New York, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) found sought to forcibly repatriate individuals back to China.
“The Chinese government’s attempt to impose its repressive legal system on U.S. soil through the CCP’s United Front network is an unacceptable assault on U.S. sovereignty and the rule of law,” Michigan Republican Rep. John Moolenaar told the DCNF.
“These actions jeopardize the safety and freedoms of Chinese Americans and undermine the principles of justice that define our nation,” said Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP. “Congress and law enforcement must remain vigilant, hold those involved accountable, and impose costs on the CCP’s illicit United Front activities within the United States.”
‘Foot Soldiers’
Chinese law enforcement agencies tapped at least eight U.S. nonprofit leaders to serve as “overseas mediators” and “hearing officers” for underground courts on American soil, according to Chinese state media and government reports.
Overseas mediators and hearing officers remotely notarize and serve legal documents, provide a physical space to host video calls for mediation and litigation and advocate on behalf of overseas compatriots, Chinese government and state-run media reports show.
A November 2022 UFWD announcement showcased the Xinhui District court in Jiangmen, Guangdong province and its “Overseas Dispute Mediation Station.” The announcement identified the chairman of the San Francisco, California-based World Youth Congress of Jiangmen as one of the court’s “overseas mediators” and highlighted his role in settling an international divorce case through video call.
The Xinhui branch of China’s organ for legal supervision, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, likewise appointed the chairman of the San Francisco-based Kong Chow Benevolent Association as a “hearing officer” connected to its “Overseas Chinese Inspection Liaison Station” in 2022, according to the Chinese government.
The DCNF has not been able to determine if these entities have adjudicated criminal cases. Under Chinese law, most dissident speech is a criminal matter.
Zhejiang and Fujian provincial law enforcement have also established U.S. hubs.
In July 2016, a court in Lucheng District, Wenzhou, Zhejiang appointed the Wenzhou Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce as its first California “Overseas Liaison Mediation Station” and named its chairman as an “overseas mediator,” Chinese state media reported. The court had previously appointed members of the New York-based Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce and Industry as mediators in 2014, Newsweek reported.
The Changle Procuratorate in Fuzhou, Fujian recently also demonstrated similar ambitions when it unveiled an “Overseas Chinese Protection Observation Station” in September 2023 and told the honorary chairman of the New York City-based Fukien Benevolent Association of America and others they were to perform overseas procuratorial work, according to a social media post.
Meanwhile, Changle District court social media posts from 2020 and 2022 reveal it appointed three members of New York’s America Changle Association to serve as “overseas mediators.” America Changle Association leader Chen Jinping recently pleaded guilty to “conspiring to act as an illegal agent” of China connected to running an “undeclared overseas police station” in New York, according to the DOJ.
The World Youth Congress of Jiangmen, Kong Chow Benevolent Association, Wenzhou Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Fukien Benevolent Association of America and America Changle Association could not be reached for comment.
“Overseas mediators” and “hearing officers” pose a national security threat, Chinese intelligence experts told the DCNF.
“There are risks to national security because these civic organizations are exclusively pro-CCP ‘United Front’-led groups that are under the supervision of Chinese consulates, who, in turn, ultimately answer to the CCP,” Ina Mitchell, a Chinese intelligence expert, told the DCNF. “I can see them being strong-armed into spying and other illegal activity on U.S. soil in a deal brokered by a mediator assigned by the state.”
Dr. Lawrence Sellin, a national security expert, told the DCNF that despite overseas mediation stations and overseas Chinese police stations claiming to only offer benign legal services, the CCP will use them for malign purposes.
“In reality, they are means by which the CCP can monitor and, when needed, punish members of the Chinese diaspora if they deviate from the CCP agenda,” Sellin said. “That degree of control allows the CCP to enlist Chinese community members, willingly or unwillingly, as foot soldiers in the conduct of influence and espionage operations in the United States, which represents a national security threat.”
‘Dual Justice System’
The DCNF also identified two U.S. nonprofit leaders working for the MPS, according to Chinese government records.
One such individual is both a consultant for the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce Greater Washington and also the co-chairman of the Azusa, California-based U.S.-Zhejiang General Chamber of Commerce.
This individual not only serves as a mediator for the Wenzhou People’s Court, but also as a Zhejiang MPS supervisor, stemming from his work founding an MPS and Chinese military contractor called Senken.
He has also frequently met with MPS officials to discuss overseas Chinese police work including during an April 2024 meeting, which the chairman of the Rosemead, California-based Sino-American Public Diplomacy Association also attended.
The honorary chairman of the New York City-based American Fujian Association of Commerce and Industry is also connected to the MPS.
A Chinese government document reveals he previously served as an officer in a CCP paramilitary organization called the People’s Armed Police (PAP).
After rising through the ranks, “the military repeatedly dispatched [him] to the U.S. to conduct protection work for overseas Chinese community organizations returning to China for inspection,” the document states.
He eventually retired from the military and joined the MPS just before moving to the U.S., according to the document.
“China has built a vast UFWD network in the U.S. that the Chinese government and Party agencies use for command and control purposes,” Scott McGregor, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police intelligence official, told the DCNF. “These organizations are the main tool in China’s ever expanding foreign infiltration strategy that now includes the installation of China’s court and policing overseas.”
“It is obvious that the next step in the evolution of China expanding its control over overseas Chinese is now the creation of a dual judicial system that China operates inside the U.S.,” McGregor warned.
The U.S.-Zhejiang General Chamber of Commerce did not respond to multiple requests for comment and the Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce Greater Washington, Sino-American Public Diplomacy Association and American Fujian Association of Commerce and Industry could not be reached.
‘No Innocent Contacts’
Leaders of at least six U.S. nonprofits have also met with MPS officials to share information and discuss strengthening cooperation between Chinese police and overseas Chinese. Many of these meetings are colorfully described as “tea parties.”
The secretary general of the Elmhurst, New York-based American Fuqing Association has attended three tea parties in the Honglu District of Fuqing, Fujian with officials from MPS and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC), a UFWD arm.
An ACFROC social media post reveals he attended one February 2022 tea party where officials introduced their police station linked to Fuzhou’s “Overseas 110” network, which by June 2022 had established 38 overseas police stations, Chinese state media reported.
Attendees of the tea party also discussed measures to “persuade” certain persons in Myanmar to return to China.
“Persuasion to return” is the “use of non-traditional, often illegal, means of forcing someone to return to China against their will,” according to human rights group Safeguard Defenders.
The secretary general attended a second MPS tea party in January 2023 along with the honorary chairman of the Honolulu-based U.S. Hawaii Fujian United Association, another ACFROC social media post states.
“During last year’s tea party, the issue of fraud in northern Myanmar keeping compatriots from returning to conduct business normally in Myanmar was raised,” the secretary general said at the event. “The issue was resolved in a timely manner with the efforts of ACFROC and various cooperating departments.”
A third ACFROC social media post shows both nonprofit leaders also attended the most recent February 2024 MPS tea party, during which one ACFROC official said attendees would serve to connect MPS with overseas Chinese and globalize China’s national policies.
Leaders from the Highland Falls, New York-based Fuzhou Association of USA, New York City’s United Chinese Associations of Eastern United States, California’s U.S. Wenzhou Association and the aforementioned American Fujian Association of Commerce and Industry have also met with MPS officials in recent years, Chinese government announcements, social media posts and state media reports likewise reveal.
The Fuzhou Association of USA, United Chinese Associations of Eastern United States and U.S. Hawaii Fujian United Association could not be reached for comment and the American Fuqing Association and U.S. Wenzhou Association did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“The Communist Party believes it has the Mandate of Heaven to rule ‘tianxia,’ or ‘All Under Heaven.’ Worse, the CCP believes it has the obligation — not just the right — to do so,” author and China expert Gordon Chang told the DCNF. “Among other things, this means that every point of contact the regime maintains with our country constitutes a threat to our sovereignty and hence our national security. There are no innocent contacts. None.”
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