A federal jury in New York has convicted a United States citizen for his role in operating an illegal, secret police station in Manhattan’s Chinatown on behalf of the Chinese government. Lu Jianwang was found guilty of acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China and conspiring to obstruct justice, marking a high-profile victory for federal prosecutors targeting transnational repression.

By JKN Global News Desk

A federal jury in Brooklyn delivered a guilty verdict against Lu Jianwang, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen, following a trial that exposed the operations of an unauthorized overseas police outpost in New York City. The facility, located in a nondescript office building in Manhattan's Chinatown, was allegedly established under the direction of the Fuzhou branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. Prosecutors argued that while the station offered basic services such as driver’s license renewals, its primary purpose was to serve as a base for tracking and harassing dissidents living in the United States.

The conviction follows a multi-year investigation by the FBI and the Department of Justice into what officials describe as a campaign of "transnational repression" by the Chinese government. Evidence presented during the trial demonstrated that Lu and his associates maintained direct communication with Chinese provincial police officials to carry out tasks on American soil without notifying the U.S. government. These tasks included locating a Chinese activist living in California and pressuring individuals perceived as enemies of the Chinese state to return to their home country.

Beyond the charge of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, the jury found Lu guilty of conspiring to obstruct justice. Federal agents testified that upon learning of the government's investigation, Lu and his co-conspirators deleted records of their communications with Chinese Ministry of Public Security officials from their mobile devices. This destruction of evidence occurred just as the FBI began conducting searches and interviews related to the Chinatown outpost.

Legal experts and federal officials have characterized the case as a landmark in the ongoing effort to curb foreign interference within U.S. borders. The Department of Justice has recently intensified its scrutiny of similar activities, including separate investigations into a California mayor accused of spreading propaganda and a woman jailed for identity theft schemes linked to North Korean interests. The verdict against Lu signals a firm stance by U.S. authorities against the establishment of foreign law enforcement infrastructure on American soil.

The Chinese government has consistently denied the existence of "secret police stations," claiming the Manhattan office was a volunteer-run service center intended to assist overseas citizens with administrative tasks during the pandemic. However, U.S. prosecutors successfully argued that the lack of transparency and the nature of the surveillance activities performed by Lu constituted a direct violation of federal law. Lu now faces a maximum sentence of several years in federal prison; a sentencing date has not yet been finalized.