The US Department of Justice has announced that two men have been arrested for allegedly operating a secret police station in New York to monitor Chinese dissidents.

US Attorney Breon Peace, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, spoke with reporters Monday. He said the two men, aged 61 and 59, established the station in Manhattan's Chinatown on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security.

Peace added that "the Chinese national police appear to have been using the station to track a US resident on US soil."

The station also reportedly provided Chinese government services, such as renewals of drivers licenses, without notifying US authorities.

The police station closed last year after the FBI launched an investigation into it. Peace said the two men obstructed justice by destroying evidence of their communications with the Chinese police when they learned of the investigation.

Peace also announced charges against 34 Chinese public security officers who allegedly harassed and threatened dissidents and activists living in the United States.

He condemned China for its "flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty."

The Justice Department says these are the first related arrests.

In a report released in December, Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders said there are "at least 102 'Chinese Overseas Police Service Centers' in 53 countries around the world."

The NGO said there are multiple centers in Canada and the United States. It also said there are two in Japan: one in Tokyo and another in an undisclosed location.