China · Fortune Technology
Oken acknowledged the organization was open about its driver’s license service
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Lu worked for China “without asking or telling the U.S. government,” violating the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people acting as agents of a foreign government or entity to register with the Justice Department, Oken said.
Key facts
- The FBI, spurred by a report from an organization that monitors Chinese transnational repression, raided the alleged New York City outpost on Oct
- Lawyers for the man accused of running it, Lu Jianwang, contend it was a community center, and nothing more, where members of the Chinese diaspora could remotely renew their Chinese driver’s licenses
- Lu’s co-defendant, Chen, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to a charge of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent
- U.S. prosecutors say it was a secret Chinese spy outpost, with orders from Beijing to silence, harass and intimidate pro-democracy dissidents in the U.S., and a banner inside that said: “Fuzhou
Summary
The plain, glass-clad building stands six stories between a hotel, a spa and a coffee shop in the heart of Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood. U.S. prosecutors say it was a secret Chinese spy outpost, with orders from Beijing to silence, harass and intimidate pro-democracy dissidents in the U.S., and a banner inside that said: “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York USA.” Lawyers for the man accused of running it, Lu Jianwang, contend it was a community center, and nothing more, where members of the Chinese diaspora could remotely renew their Chinese driver’s licenses amid COVID-19 pandemic-era travel restrictions and meet to play ping-pong and mahjong. Lu, 64, went on trial Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, more than three years after U.S. authorities arrested him at his Bronx home on charges he conspired to act as a foreign agent and destroyed evidence, including WeChat messages with his purported Chinese government handler.