Jury convicts man of running Chinese police station in NYC

A federal jury in Brooklyn Wednesday convicted U.S. citizen “Harry” Lu Jianwang, age 64, of running a Chinese police station in New York City. Lu was found guilty of acting as an illegal foreign agent, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. He was also convicted of obstructing justice for deleting texts that prosecutors said were orders from China to silence and threaten pro-democracy dissidents. His conviction followed a weeklong trial. He was acquitted of a related conspiracy charge.

Lu could face up 30 years in prison at sentencing. Defense attorney John Carman told reporters outside the courthouse that his client planned to appeal the verdict. Lu did not engage in espionage but rather ran an outpost where individuals could renew their Chinese licenses remotely, Carman said. People would also meet there to play ping-pong and mahjong.

Lu blatantly disregarded the law and operated a station for sinister purposes, but has now been held accountable, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.

What did the police station do? Lu and co-defendant Chen Jinping ran the station in a nondescript office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood, the attorney’s office said. When U.S. police searched the spot, they found a banner that read “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York, USA.” The Chinese government tasked Lu and Jinping with collecting information and locating a pro-democracy advocate who fled from China to the United States, according to the attorney’s office.

Jinping pleaded guilty in 2024 and is awaiting sentencing, the attorney’s office said. 

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on Lu’s co-conspirator’s guilty plea in 2024.