Washington DC [US], January 30 : China is reportedly imposing its legal system on American soil through a network of nonprofit organizations in the United States linked to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence agency, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF).
The network, comprising over a dozen organizations across California, the greater Washington, DC area, Hawaii, and New York, shares information with Chinese law enforcement officials. Some of these organizations have even set up unofficial courtrooms in the United States, according to a months-long investigation by DCNF.
US lawmakers and intelligence analysts warn that these underground courts could be used to target dissidents and expand Beijing's influence abroad. This contradicts the Chinese government's claim that it sends law enforcement officers overseas solely to handle routine matters, such as international divorces and Chinese driver's license renewals, DCNF reported.
According to the investigation, some nonprofit leaders within this network have openly discussed forced repatriation operations with China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS). Furthermore, all of these organizations are run by individuals affiliated with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a CCP intelligence agency.
Additionally, several individuals designated to run these overseas Chinese courts in the US are linked to the same nonprofit organization that operated an illegal Chinese police station in New York. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) previously discovered that the police station had attempted to coerce individuals into returning to China, DCNF reported.
"The Chinese government's attempt to impose its repressive legal system on US soil through the CCP's United Front network is an unacceptable assault on US sovereignty and the rule of law," Michigan Republican Rep. John Moolenaar said as quoted by DNCF.
"These actions jeopardize the safety and freedoms of Chinese Americans and undermine the principles of justice that define our nation, 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," said Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP as quoted by DNCF.