At a press briefing, Breon Peace, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced that a criminal complaint has been filed against 34 Chinese police officers. He described the group as members of a covert unit identified as the Special Project 912 task force, which is alleged to have engaged in the persecution of political activists and dissidents living overseas, with New York cited as one of the locations affected. Peace stressed that the case centers on serious abuses that cross national borders and undermine the rights and safety of people advocating for political reform. The complaint signals a deliberate shift toward accountability for acts that, if proven, would amount to criminal conduct under U.S. law as well as international human rights norms, according to sources familiar with the matter. The assertion was made in the context of a broader campaign to expose and deter transnational oppression linked to foreign security services, and it reflects ongoing U.S. efforts to scrutinize foreign police actions that chase political opponents into exile or hazardous international environments, as reported by DEA News and corroborated by official statements from U.S. law enforcement channels.
Peace asserted that the 34 officers are charged with directing and participating in operations aimed at suppressing democratic activists and dissidents outside China, including individuals in New York. He indicated that the allegations involve coordinated efforts to surveil, intimidate, and silence critics who have shown a willingness to speak out from abroad. The filing illustrates a legally actionable pattern of behavior that prosecutors characterize as abuse of power, coercive tactics, and a breach of universal rights to political expression. The publicized charges underscore the seriousness with which the U.S. side views foreign police units suspected of exporting repression across borders, and they highlight how the U.S. intends to use available criminal statutes to pursue accountability for actions conducted far from home soil, as described by officials familiar with the case and cited in multiple news briefings.
Earlier in the discussion, a senior State Department official commented on the broader implications of such allegations, noting that China has long pursued influence and control through various means, including actions that can be described as extraterritorial harassment. This official emphasized that the international community must pay close attention to patterns of coercion against political opponents regardless of where they operate, and that such behavior is incompatible with global norms on human rights and freedom of expression. The remarks arrived amid a high-profile gathering of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven countries, held in Karuizawa, Japan, a resort town known for its diplomacy-focused meetings. The setting provided a platform for leaders to discuss the evolving landscape of international security, human rights advocacy, and the responsibilities of states to protect activists beyond their borders. The discussions underscored the shared concern that targeted operations abroad can undermine democratic participation and stall the free exchange of political ideas, a topic that has drawn renewed attention as partnerships among Western nations seek to hold state actors to account for transnational offenses. In this context, the Karuizawa meetings served as a backdrop for reinforcing commitments to uphold international norms while coordinating responses to emerging threats faced by dissidents and civil society figures in multiple regions.