The trial of Lu Jianwang, a 64-year-old U.S. citizen accused of operating a secret Chinese spy outpost in Manhattan's Chinatown, began Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court. Prosecutors allege the plain glass-clad building was used to silence, harass, and intimidate pro-democracy dissidents, while his defense insists it was merely a community center for playing ping-pong and mahjong.
Prosecution's Case
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Oken told jurors that Lu, despite living in New York City for decades, was working for the Chinese government. She alleged that Lu and co-defendant Chen Jinping, who has since pleaded guilty, established the outpost in 2022 after Lu attended a ceremony in Fujian province where China's Ministry of Public Security announced the opening of 30 such secret police stations worldwide.
According to Oken, China's communist government uses these outposts to monitor individuals it considers enemies of its interests. A banner inside the Manhattan location read: "Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York USA." The prosecution plans to call a dissident targeted by the outpost as a witness.
Illegal Services
Oken acknowledged that the outpost openly offered driver's license renewal services for Chinese nationals, but argued that even this was illegal under U.S. law. Lu failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires agents of foreign governments to disclose their activities to the Justice Department.
Defense's Rebuttal
Lu's lawyer, John Carman, dismissed the case as a mundane bureaucratic oversight, not an international spy thriller. "Lu was arrested for essentially failing to file a form," Carman told jurors. He emphasized that evidence would show Lu is not a spy, not part of Chinese intelligence, not a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and not an agent of the Chinese government. Carman invoked two phrases: "No good deed goes unpunished" and "Guilt by association."
The outpost shared office space with the America ChangLe Association, a community organization run by Lu and his brother, described as a "social gathering place for Fujianese people." Defense argued that members of the Chinese diaspora used the center to remotely renew Chinese driver's licenses during pandemic travel restrictions and to socialize with ping-pong and mahjong.
FBI Raid and Evidence
The FBI raided the alleged outpost on October 3, 2022, based on a report from an organization monitoring Chinese transnational repression. Agents seized a computer and cellphones, and broke into locked cabinets and a safe. The next day, Lu allegedly admitted to establishing the outpost, communicating with a handler via WeChat, and deleting those messages. Carman noted that neither of Lu's two-hour FBI interviews was recorded.
Lu was arrested in April 2023. Co-defendant Chen Jinping pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiracy to act as a foreign agent and remains free on bond pending sentencing after Lu's trial.
Courtroom Scene
Lu, who also goes by Harry Lu, sat at the defense table alongside Baimadajie Angwang, a former NYPD officer cleared of similar charges three years ago. Angwang now works as an investigator for Lu's defense. Lu, wearing a dark suit and American flag lapel pin, listened through an interpreter translating proceedings into Fujianese. Dozens of supporters rallied outside the courthouse, waving American flags and holding signs reading "Justice for Harry Lu" and "Chinese Americans Are Americans!"
In closing, Carman told jurors: "No one controls him. If Harry Lu is an agent of anyone, he is an agent for his community. You have the life of an innocent man in your hands."
