A New York man has been convicted of running what authorities described as a secret Chinese police station in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood. Lu Jianwang, 64, was found guilty on charges of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government and obstruction of justice for destroying evidence related to the operation.
Key Takeaways
Lu Jianwang was convicted of running an unregistered Chinese police station in Manhattan's Chinatown. Prosecutors say it was used to monitor dissidents, while his defense argued it was a community center.
The jury trial, which lasted one week, revealed that Lu opened and operated the station in early 2022 at the behest of China's Ministry of Public Security. Prosecutors argued that Lu should have registered as a foreign agent when he helped establish the outpost. The station was shut down after an FBI investigation in late 2022.
The glass-paned office building, perched above a ramen store on a busy block of Chinese restaurants and grocery stores, looked inconspicuous from the outside. Lu, who is president of the American Changle Association, claimed he intended to use it as a community center where expats could renew their driver's licenses and engage in social activities like mahjong and ping pong.
According to prosecutors, Lu and his co-defendant, Chen Jinping (who pleaded guilty earlier), established what authorities described as the first known overseas Chinese police station in the United States. Prosecutors said the Manhattan outpost operated out of this office building where investigators found a blue banner reading: 'Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York, USA'.
Prosecutors also accused Lu of helping Chinese authorities locate a pro-democracy activist living in California, though they did not allege any harm came to the activist. The FBI searched the outpost in October 2022 and seized phones belonging to Lu and Chen. Investigators later discovered WeChat messages between the men and their Chinese government handler had been deleted.
Lu spoke briefly to supporters outside federal court following the verdict but declined to answer questions from reporters. His attorney argued that the outpost functioned as a community center where Chinese residents could renew driver’s licenses and gather socially, denying any espionage or intelligence gathering activities.
The conviction comes amid heightened scrutiny of China's alleged transnational repression efforts. Rights groups have reported at least 100 such stations operating in 53 countries, with claims that they are used to monitor and threaten Chinese nationals abroad. China has denied these allegations, maintaining that the outposts provide administrative services.
Just days after Lu's conviction, Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang pleaded guilty to posting propaganda on a website targeting the Chinese American community at the behest of the Chinese government. She published an essay arguing there was no genocide in Xinjiang province and 'no such thing as forced labour'.
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