AfriPulse
By Luc Cohen
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Lu Jianwang, 64, should have alerted the U.S. Attorney General that he was a Chinese agent when he helped open the so-called police station in 2022. They also said he helped China’s government locate a pro-democracy activist living in California.
Lu was arrested in April 2023. He had pleaded not guilty to the three felony charges he faced: conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent, acting as an unregistered agent of China, and obstruction of justice.
A jury in Brooklyn federal court reached the verdict after a weeklong trial. Lu faces up to 30 years in prison.
“May today’s verdict send a message to other foreign agents–the FBI maintains its unwavering resolve to reveal and disrupt the clandestine operations of adversarial nations,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle in an announcement of the verdict.
The Justice Department has in recent years been ramping up probes into what it calls “transnational repression” by U.S. adversaries such as China and Iran to intimidate political opponents living in the United States.
CHINA CALLS CHARGES FABRICATED
China’s government has called the charges in the case “fabricated” and part of an effort to smear the country’s image. Beijing has said there are centers outside China run by local volunteers, not Chinese police officers, that aim to help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services.
In her opening statement on May 6, prosecutor Lindsey Oken said Lu – a naturalized U.S. citizen – had ties with Chinese law enforcement and met with officials who tasked him with opening the station during a trip to China in 2022.
Oken said Lu ran the station out of a nondescript office building in Chinatown. She said he started out by helping Chinese nationals living in New York with renewing driver’s licenses, which alone is a crime if not disclosed to the U.S. government.
Oken said Lu also agreed to help the Chinese government locate a pro-democracy activist living in the United States. Prosecutors did not allege that the activist was harmed.
John Carman, a lawyer for Lu, said his client agreed to open the center to help Chinese nationals who were unable to travel to the country to renew documents due to the COVID pandemic. But C
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