Republican Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Counter China’s Secret Police Stations in the U.S.

A group of Republican lawmakers has introduced the Expel Illegal Chinese Police Act of 2025 (H.R.2127), aimed at countering China’s covert efforts to establish unauthorized police stations on American soil.

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, introduced the bill, co-led by the committee’s chairman, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.). The proposed legislation seeks to curb the presence of these illegal police stations, which are reportedly used to surveil and intimidate both American citizens and Chinese dissidents living in the U.S.

“The Chinese Communist Party should never have been allowed to operate police stations in the U.S. to surveil American citizens and harass Chinese citizens who have fled the Communist regime,” Hinson stated on March 18. She emphasized the need to “find, prosecute, and sanction” any CCP officials involved in such operations.

The bill empowers the U.S. president to impose financial sanctions, asset freezes, and visa restrictions on individuals and entities operating Chinese police stations in the country. It also proposes enhanced penalties for those acting under the direction of China’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) — a CCP body known for coordinating influence operations, intelligence gathering, and technology transfer.

“These stations represent a direct threat to our national security and undermine the rule of law in the United States,” Moolenaar warned.

A companion bill, S.49, was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Cotton asserted, “No foreign government has the right to operate secret police stations on American soil. The Chinese Communist Party’s actions undermine international norms and human rights by circumventing legal extradition processes.”

The presence of a clandestine Chinese police station in Manhattan was exposed in April 2023, leading to federal charges against two Chinese nationals for operating the facility in coordination with China’s Ministry of Public Security. One of the accused, Chen Jinping, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to acting as an illegal Chinese agent.

A 2022 report by the rights group Safeguard Defenders revealed that China has established over 100 overseas police stations in 53 countries, intensifying global concerns over Beijing’s extraterritorial reach.

The House bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.). Aderholt described the illegal police stations as a “blatant attempt by the CCP to extend its authoritarian reach beyond its borders.”

Incidents of intimidation have already surfaced. In May 2023, Liang Litang, a U.S. citizen, was arrested for allegedly surveilling Chinese dissidents in the Boston area and providing their information to the Chinese Consulate in New York. Additionally, U.S.-based UFWD organizations were implicated in violence against demonstrators protesting Xi Jinping’s visit to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in November 2023.

The U.S. State Department designated the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification as a foreign mission in October 2020, labeling it a UFWD front organization. According to a 2020 Newsweek investigation, there are approximately 600 United Front organizations operating in the U.S.

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has called for the U.S. government to shut down these influence operations, citing their role in “malign influence operations” in a report published in December 2024.

The proposed legislation aims to safeguard U.S. sovereignty, uphold the rule of law, and protect residents from foreign intimidation tactics on American soil.