NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan resident has pleaded guilty to helping establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government.
Chen Jinping, 60, entered the guilty plea on a single count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday.
Matthew Olsen, an assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice, said Chen admitted in court to his role in “audaciously establishing an undeclared police station” in Manhattan and attempting to conceal the effort when approached by the FBI.
“This illegal police station was not opened in the interest of public safety, but to further the nefarious and repressive aims of the PRC in direct violation of American sovereignty," he said in statement, referring to the People's Republic of China.
Prosecutors say Chen and his co-defendant, Lu Jianwang, opened and operated a local branch of China’s Ministry of Public Security in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood starting in early 2022.
The office, which occupied an entire floor of the building, performed basic services, such as helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver’s licenses, but also identified pro-democracy activists living in the U.S., according to federal authorities.
The clandestine Chinese police operation was shuttered in the fall of 2022 amid an FBI investigation. But in an apparent effort to obstruct the federal probe, Chen and Lu deleted from their phones communications with a Chinese government official they reported to, prosecutors said.
China is believed to be operating such secretive police outposts in North America, Europe and other places where there are Chinese communities. The country, however, has denied that they are police stations, saying that they exist mainly to provide citizen services such as renewing driver’s licenses.
The arrest of Chen and Lu in April 2023 was part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions aimed at cracking down on "transnational repression,” in which foreign governments such as China work to identify, intimidate and silence dissidents in the U.S.
Lawyers for Chen and Lu didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday. Chen faces up to five years in prison at his sentencing on May 30.
Lu, who is due back in court in February, had a longstanding relationship with Chinese law enforcement officials, according to prosecutors.
Over the years, they say, the Bronx resident, who was also known as Harry Lu, helped harass and threaten a Chinese fugitive living in the U.S. and also worked to locate a pro-democracy activist in California on behalf of China’s government.
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FILE - A six story glass facade building, center, alleged to be the site of a foreign police outpost for China in New York's Chinatown, Monday, April 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slumped Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hinted it may deliver fewer shots of adrenaline to the economy next year than it had earlier thought.
The S&P 500 fell 1.3% toward its worst loss in a month and pulled further from its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 472 points, or 1.1%, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.6%.
The Fed said Wednesday it’s cutting its main interest rate for a third time this year, continuing the sharp turnaround begun in September when it started lowering rates from a two-decade high to support the job market. That cut, though, was widely expected.
The bigger question centers on how much more the Fed plans to cut next year. A lot is riding on it, particularly after expectations for a series of cuts in 2025 helped the U.S. stock market set an all-time high at least 57 times in 2024.
Fed officials released projections on Wednesday showing the median expectation among them is for two more cuts to interest rates in 2025. That's down from the four expected just three months ago. While lower rates can offer a boost to the economy by making it cheaper to borrow and boosting prices for investments, they can also offer more fuel for inflation.
Asked why Fed officials are looking to slow cuts to rates, Chair Jerome Powell pointed to how the job market looks to be performing well overall, inflation has accelerated a touch and other uncertainties that will require them to react to upcoming, to-be-determined changes in the economy.
Powell said some Fed officials, but not all, are also trying to incorporate uncertainties inherent in a new administration coming into the White House next year. Worries are rising along Wall Street that President-elect Donald Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could further spur inflation, along with economic growth.
“When the path is uncertain, you go a little slower," Powell said. It's "not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking into a dark room full of furniture. You just slow down. ”
One official, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, thought the central bank should not have even cut rates this time around. She was the lone vote against Wednesday's rate cut.
The reduced expectations for 2025 rate cuts sent Treasury yields rising in the bond market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.49% from 4.40% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, climbed to 4.34% from 4.25%.
On Wall Street, stocks of companies that can feel the most pressure from higher interest rates fell to some of the worst losses.
Real-estate owners in the S&P 500 fell 2.8%, for example, for the largest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the index.
Stocks of smaller companies also did poorly. Many need to borrow to fuel their growth, potentially making them more vulnerable to higher interest rates, and the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks fell 2.6%. That was double the S&P 500's fall.
Elsewhere on Wall Street. General Mills dropped 4.3% despite reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. The maker of Progresso soups and Cheerios said it will increase its investments in brands to help them grow, which pushed it to cut its forecast for profit this fiscal year.
On the winning end of Wall Street, Jabil jumped 6.7% to help lead the market after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The electronics company also raised its forecast for revenue for its full fiscal year.
Nvidia, the superstar responsible for a chunk of Wall Street’s rally to records in recent years, climbed 1.7% following a weekslong funk. It had dropped more than 12% from its record set last month and fallen in eight of the nine previous days as its big momentum slowed.
In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 edged up by less than 0.1% after data showed inflation accelerated to 2.6% in November, its highest level in eight month. The Bank of England is also meeting on interest rates this week and will announce its decision on Thursday.
In Japan, where the Bank of Japan will wrap up its own policy meeting on Friday, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7%. That was despite a 23.7% jump for Nissan Motor Corp., which said it was in talks on closer collaboration with Honda Motor Co., though no decision had been made on a possible merger. Honda Motor’s stock lost 3%.
Nissan, Honda and Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors Corp. agreed in August to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and to jointly research software for autonomous driving to adapt better to dramatic changes in the auto industry.
AP Writer Zimo Zhong contributed.
Specialist Meric Greenbaum works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the rate decision of the Federal Reserve is announced, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Michael Milano works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Anthony Matesic, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Peter Mancuso works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People walk on Wall Street in New York's Financial District on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
A scooter passes the New York Stock Exchange in New York's Financial District on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
