Chinese spies are roaming Texas looking for dissidents, FBI and Governor's office warns

In alarming unison, both Texas's governor and the FBI issued warnings to Texans about Chinese spies operating in the Lone Star State to intimidate, physically hurt and kidnap Chinese citizens who have fled to the US. 

A Chinese 'police service station' has been located in Houston, according to Gov. Greg Abbott. 

The Communist spy house, run by the Chinese government, is used to carry out threats, harassment, and even forcibly return legal US residents who are critics of the People's Republic of China. 

The Chinese police service center in Houston is one of six believed to be operating in the US.

'Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies,' Abbott said in a statement Monday.

'I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to identify and bring criminal charges against individuals who harass Texans on behalf of this hostile foreign adversary.'

The Republican governor issued an executive order Monday directing state police to immediately take action. 

Meanwhile, the FBI urged victims in the fourth-largest city in the US to come forward.

'The government of the People Republic of China (PRC) may be cyberstalking, physically intimidating, and harassing Chinese citizens, naturalized U.S. citizens, and families of dissidents who speak our against the Chinese Communist Party in Texas,' the bureau's Houston field office explained in an online post. 

Tuesday, Abbott accused China of attempts to spy on state and local governments offices in Texas.

'Hardening our state government is critical to protect Texans from hostile foreign actors who may attempt to undermine the safety and security of Texas and the nation,' Abbott said Tuesday.

This isn't the first time Houston has been the epicenter of tensions between the US and Beijing. 

In July 2020, the US State Department abruptly ordered the Chinese consulate in Texas be shut down.

Florida US Senator Marco Rubio (R) the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, claimed in a tweet Wednesday morning that 'China's Houston consulate is a massive spy center, forcing it to close is long overdue.' 

'The United States will not tolerate violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated (its) unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior,' said the statement, which was attributed to State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. 

Within hours of being ordered to close, Chinese diplomats were caught burning documents inside the Houston consulate.

Fire fighters who responded to the blaze were not allowed entry.

Shortly after Chinese official vacate the consulate, US authorities raided the building. 

The PRC has not officially re-opened in Houston, but still has four other consulates in the US and an embassy in Washington, D.C.