Community Leader Convicted in Case Tied to Alleged Chinese “Overseas Police Station” in Chinatown

Wearing a dark suit and an American flag pin on the lapel, Jianwang Lu appeared composed for most of the day as he sat at the defense table during jury deliberations. During breaks, he spoke with Chinese community members — many from Changle, Fujian, his hometown — who had come to support him and observe the proceedings. 

But when U.S. District Judge Nina R. Morrison announced the verdict through a Chinese interpreter, Lu’s brow visibly twitched.

A federal jury on Wednesday found Lu, a U.S. citizen of Chinese descent, guilty of acting as an agent of the Chinese government in connection with operating an illegal police station in Manhattan’s Chinatown, following a one-week trial that concluded Tuesday in Brooklyn.

Lu, 64, a Bronx resident and longtime Fujianese community leader, was also convicted of obstruction of justice for destroying evidence. He was acquitted of the charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government.

After the verdict was announced, confusion spread among many of the more than 50 Chinese community members in the courtroom. Once the outcome was translated, the crowd began quietly discussing it among themselves. They later gathered outside the courthouse to greet Lu and stood firmly beside him as his attorney addressed the media.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed by the verdict today,” said Lu’s attorney, John Carman. “There was some traction on our arguments, but the cautionary tale here is that if you’re a member of a community that originated in another country, you have to be very, very, very careful how you deal with people from your home country. And I think it’s fair to say that this is true most especially if you’re from the Chinese American community.”

During the trial, federal prosecutors alleged that Lu, the former president of the America Changle Association – a community organization in Chinatown that claims to represent and promote the interests of more than 300,000 individuals in the U.S. from China – helped establish and operate what they described as the first known “overseas police station” in the United States on behalf of the Chinese government, without notifying U.S. authorities. The police station, located in Manhattan’s Chinatown, closed in the fall of 2022 after a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raid, according to the prosecutors.

Prosecutors argued that the site functioned as a covert outpost used to silence, harass, and intimidate Chinese dissidents in the U.S. During the trial, a California-based dissident testified that he was targeted. Prosecutors also alleged that Lu deleted WeChat messages between himself and a Chinese government handler after the FBI searched the office and interviewed him.

Carman contended that the America Changle Association primarily serves as a social and service hub for immigrants from Changle, offering activities such as ping-pong and mahjong. He argued that Lu’s actions were intended to help community members navigate pandemic-era travel restrictions — particularly when China was largely inaccessible — by arranging remote services, including Zoom sessions with police stations in China to renew Chinese driver’s licenses.

After the verdict, Carman maintained the case amounted to a paperwork error rather than spying practice as prosecutors described and said the defense plans to appeal.

Lu’s lawyer said that he believes if his client had informed government officials that he was helping people with paperwork during COVID, he would have been found not guilty. Carman also sees the conviction as a result of the government’s attempt to dress up a minor case with suggestions of spying. “Is that window dressing or dressing up a paperwork case? 100%” said Carman.

United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. said in a statement that the case exposed a Chinese government–directed police station in New York and held its founder accountable for “blatantly disregarding the law and our country’s sovereignty.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle said in a statement that the verdict should send a message to other foreign agents. He said the FBI remains committed to uncovering and disrupting clandestine operations by adversarial nations.

Throughout the trial, dozens of supporters attended daily hearings, calling for what they described as a fair trial. Some expressed concern about the broader chilling effect of the case.

“It’s going to have a big impact on our community,” said Yongqin Li, an 88-year-old community member who attended the hearing, in Mandarin. “Lu should not have been found guilty, but he was caught on a technicality. After seeing the outcome of this case, people may no longer be willing to do good things for the community.”

Aiguo Zheng, one of Lu’s supporters, echoed that sentiment. “Look at all the community members here today,” Zheng said in Mandarin, pointing to the crowd surrounding Lu. “If he weren’t doing good things for his community, why would so many people come out to support him?”

Standing next to Lu was Baimadajie Angwang, a former NYPD officer and ethnic Tibetan immigrant whose earlier federal case alleging ties to the Chinese government was later dropped. Angwang now works as an investigator for Lu’s defense team.

“For the past few years, there are a lot of wrongdoings towards our community, whether it’s racially motivated or any other motivations,” Angwang said, who said he was a Marine and pointed to patriotic pins on his lapels. “Because of the suspicion that our people might be disloyal to this great country, we have to do stuff like this [wearing pins] to prevent people coming after us.”

Angwang said that Lu’s case reminded him of historical episodes such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the incarceration camps of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the now-defunct China Initiative, a national security program targeting Chinese espionage that was canceled amid criticism over bias and racial profiling.

“We are not asking for privilege, we just want to be treated equally as other races,” said Angwang.

Lu remains free on bond, and a sentencing date has not yet been set. He faces up to 30 years in prison if sentenced on the charges.Lu’s co-defendant, Jinping Chen, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiring to act as an agent of the Chinese government and is awaiting sentencing.