Was it a secret Chinese spy headquarters or a ping-pong parlor? New York Chinatown case goes to trial

(SeaPRwire) –   The six-story, glass-fronted building is located between a hotel, a spa and a coffee shop in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

U.S. prosecutors allege that it functioned as a clandestine Chinese spy outpost under orders from Beijing to target pro-democracy dissidents in the United States, with an internal banner reading: “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York USA.”

Lu Jianwang’s legal team maintains that the facility served merely as a community center, where members of the Chinese diaspora could remotely renew Chinese driver’s licenses during pandemic-related travel restrictions and gather to play ping-pong and mahjong.

At age 64, Lu went on trial Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court more than three years after U.S. authorities arrested him at his Bronx residence on charges of conspiring to act as a foreign agent and destroying evidence—including WeChat messages exchanged with his purported Chinese government contact.

“He was living in New York City but he was working for the Chinese government,” prosecutor Lindsey Oken stated during opening remarks.

According to Oken, Lu and co-defendant Chen Jinping—who has since pleaded guilty—established the Chinatown outpost in 2022 after Lu attended a ceremony in Fujian province where China’s Ministry of Public Security announced plans to open 30 such secret police stations globally.

The Communist government of China employs these outposts to surveil individuals it “views as enemies of its interests,” Oken told jurors. Among those expected to testify against Lu is a dissident who claims to have been targeted by the New York outpost.

The Manhattan location shared office space with the America ChangLe Association, a community group co-founded by Lu and his brother Jimmy, which described itself on tax filings as a “social gathering place for Fujianese people.” The name “ChangLe” translates to “eternal joy,” according to defense counsel.

Oken acknowledged that the organization openly offered driver’s license renewal services—but insisted this activity was unlawful under U.S. law.

Lu operated on behalf of China “without asking or telling the U.S. government,” thereby violating the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act, which mandates disclosure when acting as an agent of a foreign power or entity, Oken argued.

Lu’s attorney, John Carman, framed the case as a routine bureaucratic oversight rather than a high-stakes espionage drama.

“Lu was arrested for essentially failing to file a form,” Carman told jurors.

Evidence, he asserted, will demonstrate that Lu “is not a spy, not part of Chinese intelligence services, not affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, and not an agent of the Chinese government.” He likened the situation to the adages “No good deed goes unpunished” and “Guilt by association.”

The FBI, prompted by a report from a monitoring group focused on transnational repression by China, executed a raid on the alleged New York outpost on October 3, 2022, searching drawers, ransacking locked cabinets and safes, and seizing a computer and cellphones, Carman recounted.

“They turned the place upside down,” he said.

The following day, Oken noted, Lu admitted to FBI agents that he had set up the Manhattan outpost, maintained regular contact with his handler via WeChat, and had deleted those messages. Carman emphasized that neither of Lu’s two-hour FBI interviews were recorded; Lu was subsequently arrested in April 2023.

Chen, his co-defendant, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiracy to act as a foreign agent and remains free on bond pending sentencing after Lu’s trial concludes.

Lu, also known as Harry Lu, sat beside Baimadajie Angwang—a former NYPD officer cleared three years ago of accusations of being a Chinese government intelligence asset—at the defense table. Angwang, who is suing to rejoin the police force, currently serves as an investigator for Lu’s legal team.

Dressed in a dark suit, pale blue tie and glasses, Lu speaks limited English and listened through an earpiece as an interpreter translated proceedings into Fujianese. Both men wore American flag pins on their lapels.

Outside the courthouse, dozens of supporters—including congregants from Lu’s church—gathered holding signs reading “Justice for Harry Lu” and “Chinese Americans Are Americans!” while waving small American flags as Lu and his attorneys arrived.

“No one controls him,” Carman told jurors. “If Harry Lu is an agent of anyone, he is an agent for his community—the local people in his community.”

“You have the life of an innocent man in your hands,” the lawyer concluded.