A Chinatown community leader allegedly ran a covert Chinese government outpost from an unassuming Manhattan office building, assisting authorities in Beijing in tracking a “pro-democracy dissident,” prosecutors said Wednesday, the New York Post reports.
Lu Jianwang, also known as Harry Lu, “opened a satellite office for the Chinese government in the heart of New York City,” prosecutor Lindsey Oken told jurors during opening statements in a Brooklyn federal trial. The case is expected to provide insight into what officials describe as China’s broader influence operations inside the United States.
Lu, a Bronx resident and longtime naturalized U.S. citizen, was living in New York City but working on behalf of the Chinese government, Oken said. According to prosecutors, he followed directives from China’s Ministry of Public Security to monitor a dissident based in New York from a location at 107 East Broadway. The site, a six-story building with prominent windows, allegedly displayed signage identifying it as a “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station.”
Defense attorney John Carman countered that the location was not a secret police station but a community center serving local residents, particularly immigrants from China’s Fujian Province. He said people gathered there for activities like mahjong and ping pong and relied on Lu for assistance renewing Chinese driver’s licenses remotely during COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“He’s not an agent of Chinese intelligence … He’s an agent of the people of his community,” Carman told the jury.
The competing arguments came as the trial began, with proceedings expected to last about a week. The dissident at the center of the case is anticipated to testify. Lu has pleaded not guilty to charges including failing to register as a foreign agent and obstruction of justice, related to allegations he deleted WeChat messages with a suspected Chinese government contact, according to The Post.
Lu, 64, appeared in court wearing a dark suit with an American flag pin and showed little visible emotion as he listened to a Fujianese translation of the proceedings through an earpiece. Sitting with the defense team was Baimadajie Angwang, a former NYPD officer who was cleared in 2023 of similar federal accusations involving alleged ties to China. Angwang is now working as an investigator for Lu’s legal team and is seeking reinstatement to the police force. More than 50 supporters attended the hearing.
Lu was arrested at his Bronx home in 2023 along with co-defendant Chen Jinping. Prosecutors said the two opened the Chinatown location in 2022 after Lu returned from a ceremony in China where officials announced plans to establish dozens of similar outposts worldwide. Chen pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiring to act on behalf of China without notifying U.S. authorities. He is currently free on bond and is expected to be sentenced following the conclusion of Lu’s trial.