{"id":232478,"date":"2026-05-15T09:11:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232478\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T09:11:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:11:38","slug":"bronx-man-convicted-of-running-secret-chinese-police-station-in-manhattan-used-to-monitor-dissidents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232478\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx man convicted of running secret Chinese police station in Manhattan used to monitor dissidents"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New York<\/a> man was convicted Wednesday of helping operate a secret Chinese government-linked police station in Manhattan used to monitor dissidents, federal prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Lu Jianwang, 64, a U.S. citizen also known as \u201cHarry Lu\u201d from the Bronx<\/a>, was convicted by a jury on two counts related to operating an overseas police station in New York City on behalf of China\u2019s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), as well as obstruction of justice for destroying evidence.<\/p>\n

According to prosecutors, Lu and his co-defendant, Chen Jinping, acted as illegal agents of the Chinese government beginning in 2022 and established what authorities described as the first known overseas Chinese police station in the United States.<\/p>\n

Chen pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiring to act as an agent of the People\u2019s Republic of China in connection with the operation.<\/p>\n

CALIFORNIA MAYOR ACCUSED OF SECRETLY WORKING FOR CHINA, SPREADING PROPAGANDA WHILE IN OFFICE: FEDS<\/a><\/p>\n

Prosecutors said the station operated out of an office building in Lower Manhattan, where investigators found a blue banner reading: \u201cFuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York, USA.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said the conviction disrupted a Chinese government operation on American soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cA police station operating in New York City at the direction of the Chinese government has been exposed, its sinister purpose disrupted, and its founder held accountable for blatantly disregarding the law and our country\u2019s sovereignty,\u201d he said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CHINESE SPY INFILTRATION: MAYOR\u2019S BUST ADDS TO GROWING TIMELINE OF FOREIGN INFLUENCE CREEPING INTO US<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOur Office remains resolute in protecting the rights of people seeking freedom from repression and speaking out to bring democracy, reform, and human rights<\/a> to China,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

James C. Barnacle Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI<\/a>\u2019s New York field office, said the verdict should send a message to foreign agents operating in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay today\u2019s verdict send a message to other foreign agents \u2013 the FBI maintains its unwavering resolve to reveal and disrupt the clandestine operations of adversarial nations,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

CHINA TARGETS US MILITARY MEMBERS IN OVERSEAS SPY OPERATIONS, FORMER CIA STATION CHIEF WARNS<\/a><\/p>\n

Prosecutors said the Manhattan outpost was part of a broader Chinese government effort to monitor and intimidate dissidents abroad<\/a>, including in the United States.<\/p>\n

According to the DOJ, Lu gathered information for the Chinese government, including helping locate a pro-democracy activist who fled China<\/a> for the United States.<\/p>\n

The FBI searched the outpost in October 2022 and seized phones belonging to Lu and Chen. Investigators later discovered WeChat messages between the men and their Chinese government handler had been deleted.<\/p>\n

ATTORNEY RAISES BROADER CONCERNS AFTER MAYOR ADMITS TO ACTING AS CHINESE AGENT IN SHOCKING CASE<\/a><\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Lu admitted to FBI agents that he established the Manhattan outpost, communicated with his handler through WeChat and deleted the messages.<\/p>\n

Lu spoke briefly to supporters outside federal court<\/a> following the verdict but declined to answer questions from reporters.<\/p>\n

His attorney argued the outpost functioned as a community center where Chinese residents could renew driver\u2019s licenses and gather socially.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not espionage. This is not spying. This is not intelligence gathering,\u201d attorney John Carman said outside the courthouse. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t charged with any of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A New York man was convicted Wednesday of helping operate a secret Chinese government-linked police station in Manhattan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-232478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}