The trial of New York resident Lu Jianwang, who is accused of conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, opened on Wednesday, May 6 in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. Lu was arrested in April 2023 for his involvement in operating a so-called “Chinese overseas police station” in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
According to the Associated Press, federal prosecutors told jurors in opening statements that Lu lived in New York while working for the Chinese government. Prosecutors alleged that he illegally established an overseas branch of the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau inside a building in Manhattan’s Chinatown to monitor individuals considered hostile by the Chinese Communist Party government.
Lu Jianwang’s attorney argued that the “Overseas Chinese Service Station” merely shared office space with the New York Changle Association and functioned as a community center where Fujian natives gathered socially. During COVID-era travel restrictions, the center allegedly helped overseas Chinese renew Chinese driver’s licenses remotely. Defense attorneys told the jury that Lu was being punished for doing good deeds and was unfairly prosecuted because of his associations.
Prosecutors countered that even remotely handling Chinese driver’s license renewals was illegal. Under U.S. law, anyone acting as an agent of a foreign government must register with the U.S. Attorney General, and Lu allegedly failed to do so. Prosecutors also stated that witnesses would include a dissident allegedly targeted by Lu’s police station activities.
Multiple media reports said that sitting beside Lu in court was Baimadajie Angwang, a former New York City police officer also accused of illegally acting on behalf of the Chinese government. Both men wore American flag pins on their clothing.
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Angwang was arrested in September 2020 and accused of gathering intelligence for Beijing on local Tibetan communities. Federal prosecutors dropped the charges against him in January 2023. Angwang is currently seeking reinstatement to the New York Police Department through legal action. Reports say he has been hired by Lu Jianwang’s defense team as an investigator.
Lu Jianwang, now 64 and also known as “Harry,” became a U.S. citizen years ago. He helped establish the “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station” in Manhattan’s Chinatown in early 2020. In October 2022, the FBI shut down the alleged Chinese overseas police station.
In April 2023, Lu Jianwang and another New York resident, Chen Jinping, were arrested. Both were charged with conspiring to act as illegal agents of the People’s Republic of China and with obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying evidence of communications with a Chinese Ministry of Public Security official.
A courtroom sketch from April 17, 2023, showed Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, along with their attorneys, appearing at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn regarding the overseas Chinese police station case.
When Lu was arrested, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that he had maintained a longstanding trusted relationship with Chinese law enforcement agencies, including the Ministry of Public Security, and had carried out various assignments on behalf of the Chinese government in the United States since 2015.
Examples cited by the Justice Department included:
The Justice Department also stated that in 2022, FBI agents conducting a court-authorized search of the Chinese police station discovered that Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping had deleted communications with the Chinese public security official from their phones.
If convicted, the charge of conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Chinese government carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while obstruction of justice carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Lu Jianwang has pleaded not guilty. Co-defendant Chen Jinping pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. As part of a plea agreement, federal prosecutors dropped the obstruction of justice charge against him.