Conviction of New York Man Linked to Chinese Police Station
Federal authorities announced on Wednesday that a man from New York was found guilty of operating a secret police station linked to the Chinese government, located in Manhattan. This station was allegedly used to monitor dissidents.
Lu Jiangwan, a 64-year-old resident of the Bronx, also known as “Harry Lu,” was convicted by a jury on two charges. These charges were related to his involvement with a foreign police station in New York City that served the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), along with obstructing justice by destroying evidence.
Prosecutors assert that Lu, along with Chen Jinping, has been acting as illegal agents for China since 2022, establishing what is said to be the first overseas Chinese police station in the U.S. Chen entered a guilty plea in 2024 for conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China regarding the operation.
The police department reportedly operated out of an office building in lower Manhattan, where investigators discovered a blue banner proclaiming “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York, USA.”
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocera Jr., commented that this conviction disrupts the operations of the Chinese government within the United States. He stated, “A police department operating in New York City at the behest of the Chinese government has been busted, its nefarious purposes thwarted, and its founders held accountable for their blatant disregard for the law and our nation’s sovereignty.”
He emphasized the office’s commitment to defending the rights of individuals against oppression and promoting democracy and human rights in China.
James C. Barnacle Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, noted that the ruling should send a strong warning to foreign agents in the U.S. He said, “Today’s ruling may send a message to other foreign agents: The FBI remains unwaveringly determined to expose and disrupt the covert operations of our adversaries.”
Prosecutors described the Manhattan outpost as part of a larger initiative by the Chinese government aimed at monitoring and intimidating dissidents abroad, including those in the U.S. Lu was accused of gathering intelligence for China, which included aiding in the hunt for democratic activists who fled to the United States.
In October 2022, the FBI raided the outpost, confiscating Lu and Chen’s cell phones. During the investigation, it became apparent that messages exchanged between Lu and Chinese officials on WeChat had been deleted.
Furthermore, Lu allegedly confessed to FBI agents about his role in setting up the outpost, the use of WeChat for communication, and deleting those messages.
Following the verdict, Lu spoke briefly with his supporters outside the courthouse but refrained from answering questions from the media. His legal team argued that the outpost served more as a community center for Chinese residents to handle mundane tasks like renewing driver’s licenses and socializing.
Lawyer John Carman insisted, “This is not espionage. This is not intelligence gathering,” emphasizing that Lu had not been charged with anything that suggested espionage.
