A Chinese American man has been convicted of operating a secret Chinese police station in the heart of Manhattan on behalf of the Chinese government.
The verdict came just two days after Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang was indicted on charges of acting as an agent of the Chinese government and distributing pro-China propaganda materials in the United States. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on May 13 that a federal jury in Brooklyn found Lu Jian Wang, a Bronx resident, guilty of operating an overseas police station in Manhattan’s Chinatown under the direction of China’s Ministry of Public Security.
Wang, 63, a U.S. citizen, was convicted of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government and obstructing justice by deleting evidence related to the case.
According to federal prosecutors, Wang and co-defendant Chen Jinping established and operated the overseas police station in Manhattan’s Chinatown beginning in January 2022 at the direction of Chinese public security officials.
The FBI searched the location in October 2022. During the raid, agents found a blue banner reading, “Fuzhou Overseas Police Station, New York, USA.” Investigators also seized the cellphones of Wang and Chen. A later forensic review found that WeChat messages exchanged between the two men and a Chinese Ministry of Public Security official had been deleted.
Wang’s defense argued that the facility was actually an office for a hometown association. His attorneys said the location was used during the COVID-19 pandemic to help Chinese residents renew driver’s licenses and also served as a gathering place for table tennis and mahjong.
Federal prosecutors, however, said the site operated under the direction and control of China’s Ministry of Public Security. Authorities said the Chinese government used the outpost to monitor Chinese political dissidents and critics of the Chinese Communist Party living in the United States.
Prosecutors said Wang was tasked with gathering information on behalf of Chinese officials, including locating a pro-democracy activist who had fled China and moved to the United States. During the trial, Chinese dissident and YouTuber Xu Jie testified that he was also among those targeted for surveillance.
Wang, who is currently out on bond, faces up to 10 years in prison for acting as an illegal foreign agent and up to 20 years for obstruction of justice. His co-defendant, Chen Jinping, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to act as an agent of the Chinese government and is awaiting sentencing.
