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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A man accused of running a secret Chinese spy outpost from a nondescript office building in New York City's Chinatown neighborhood was convicted on Wednesday of acting as an illegal foreign agent.
Lu Jianwang, 64, was also convicted of obstructing justice by deleting text messages that U.S. prosecutors said included orders from Beijing to silence, harass and intimidate pro-democracy dissidents. He was acquitted on a related conspiracy charge.
China’s communist government uses the outposts to monitor people it views as enemies of its interests, Assistant U.S. Attorney Antoinette Rangel said in a closing argument on Tuesday.
After the verdict on Wednesday, Lu spoke to supporters in his native Fujianese dialect but declined to answer questions from reporters. His lawyer, John Carman, said they would appeal.
The Manhattan outpost, sandwiched between a hotel, spa and coffee shop, shared offices with the America ChangLe Association, a community organization that Lu and his brother, Jimmy, helped run. The organization described itself on tax forms as a “social gathering place for Fujianese people.” ChangLe means “eternal joy,” Carman said.
In another case that drew attention to China’s influence operations in the U.S., the mayor of a Southern California city resigned this week and agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.
It comes amid increasing concerns about China’s influence operations in the U.S. and as U.S.-China relations have grown increasingly frosty as the two powers compete over trade, technology, military influence and global leadership. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday ahead of a crucial series of meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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Jianwang's weeklong trial in Brooklyn federal court pitted U.S. concerns about China’s crackdown on dissidents against the defense’s contention that prosecutors twisted a well-meaning Chinese American community leader’s bureaucratic misstep to put him in prison.
“A police station operating in New York City at the direction of the Chinese government has been exposed, its sinister purpose disrupted, and its founder held accountable for blatantly disregarding the law and our country’s sovereignty,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.
Lu, a U.S. citizen for decades who also goes by the name Harry Lu, faces up to 10 years in prison for acting as an illegal foreign agent and up to 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice.
What China's Secret Police Stations Do
According to prosecutors, Lu and co-defendant Chen Jinping established the Chinatown outpost in 2022 after Lu attended a ceremony in his native Fujian province where China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced it was opening 30 such secret police stations around the world.
The Department of Justice said in a news release that the secret police station was “part of a global initiative by the MPS to establish overseas police service stations all over the world.”
Carman said federal prosecutors passed off a mundane paperwork case as an international spy thriller. The foreign agent conviction relates to Lu’s failure to inform the U.S. government about his work on behalf of China, which his defense team contends was limited only to helping members of the Chinese diaspora renew their Chinese driver’s licenses.
“This is not espionage. This is not spying. This is not intelligence gathering,” Carman said as he stood alongside Lu outside the courthouse. “He wasn’t charged with any of that.” The subtext of the prosecution case, Carman said, was that Lu “associated with a lot of Chinese people.”
“Is that window dressing or dressing up a paperwork case? A hundred percent,” Carman said.
During the trial, jurors were shown a large banner from the Chinatown location that said: “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York USA.” They also heard testimony from Xu Jie, a Chinese dissident, activist and YouTuber living in California who prosecutors said was targeted by Lu’s outpost.
“The police station wasn’t the defendant’s idea or initiative, this was the Chinese government,” Rangel told jurors in her closing argument. “This was the Chinese government’s plan and the defendant made it happen.”
Chen pleaded guilty in December 2024 to a charge of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent and is awaiting sentencing.
Lu’s lawyers contend the outpost was really a community center where people could renew their Chinese driver’s licenses remotely without having to go back to China amid COVID-19 pandemic-era travel restrictions.
Among other things, Carman said, people would also meet there to play ping-pong and mahjong. But, prosecutors said, even if Lu’s only connection to China was through driver’s licenses, that would be enough to violate the law.
“Harry’s motives were pure. Harry’s support in the community is enormous for a reason — not because he’s some underworld operative,” Carman said. “His support is there because he’s helped a lot of people in the 45 years that he’s been in the United States of America, becoming a citizen and reaching out to members of his community to help them.”
Where Are Secret Chinese Police Stations in the US?
A Newsweek investigation in late 2022 verified a number of the secret police stations were operating in the U.S., which are thought to exist as part of a wider network of Chinese overseas influence operations run by the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department.
Safeguard Defenders, a Spain-based rights group, using publicly available information, traced police service centers back to the public security bureaus, or PSBs, of Fuzhou in Fujian province; Wenzhou and Qingtian in Zhejiang province; and Nantong in Jiangsu province.
Wenzhou PSB runs operates one in New York and Los Angeles, according to the group. The Fuzhou PSB has one in New York while the Nantong PSB operates another at an unknown location.
Donald Trump Meets Xi Jinping in China: Latest
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Trump and Xi met for about two hours behind closed doors at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, where they discussed trade, Taiwan and other issues.
Xi offered stark warnings about avoiding possible clashes between his nation and the U.S., even cautioning that Washington’s handling of its relations with Taiwan could lead to “conflicts.”
Xi told Trump that “the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations," according to a readout by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
"If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability," she wrote. "Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy."
The White House has insisted that Trump wouldn’t be making the trip without an eye toward securing results before he leaves, suggesting there could be announcements coming on trade.
What Happens Next
Lu remains free on bail while he awaits sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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