US trial opens over alleged Chinese ‘secret police station’ in New York

A trial of a US citizen of Chinese descent accused of creating a covert police station in Manhattan opened on Wednesday, considering evidence of what the US government says is part of Beijing’s bid to expand its influence well beyond Chinese shores.Lu Jianwang, 64, faces three charges in the US Eastern District Court of New York: acting as an unauthorised agent of China; conspiracy to act as a foreign agent; and obstruction of justice. He is accused of using the fourth floor of a building in Manhattan’s Chinatown to monitor and harass overseas Chinese, using the room as an unauthorised police station. Lu has pleaded not guilty.A co-defendant in the case, Chen Jinping, pleaded guilty to working as an unauthorised agent for China in December 2024. He has not yet been sentenced.