Secret police and propaganda: The Chinese agents spying on expats in US
Key takeaways
- Madeline Halpert Reuters Lawyers for Lu Jianwang say he was using an office in Chinatown to help people renew their driver's licence - but prosecutors say it was a secret police station.
- But it was not long before the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the space, and accused Lu of taking orders from the Chinese government to establish the first known overseas police station in the US.
- This week, he was found guilty of acting as an unauthorised foreign agent for China, just days after a California politician pleaded guilty to similar offences.
Why this matters: a developing story that could shape the day's news cycle.
Madeline Halpert Reuters Lawyers for Lu Jianwang say he was using an office in Chinatown to help people renew their driver's licence - but prosecutors say it was a secret police station. The glass-paned office building perched above a ramen store in the heart of Manhattan's Chinatown looked inconspicuous on a busy block of Chinese restaurants, grocery stores and apartments.
In 2022, Lu Jianwang, the 64-year-old president of a Chinese community group, set up shop on one of the floors, creating a space where his attorneys said he planned to help expats renew their driver's licences and play ping pong on a table in a conference room.
But it was not long before the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the space, and accused Lu of taking orders from the Chinese government to establish the first known overseas police station in the US.