Video shows suspect accused of operating secret Chinese police stations mingling with Schumer, Adams

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One of the two men accused by federal prosecutors of running a secret Chinese police station in New York City purportedly has been captured on video attending an event alongside two prominent Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

Video recorded on March 18 appears to show Lu Jianwang standing alongside Adams most recently at an event where Schumer also spoke. Lu was arrested last week and charged with conspiring to act as an agent of China's government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. 

In a statement, Adams’ office told Fox News that the mayor’s attendance at an event is either to show support for a local community or the city and does not signal any kind of endorsement. 

A spokesperson for Adams also said he does not know Lu. 

2 NEW YORK RESIDENTS ALLEGEDLY RAN SECRET CHINESE POLICE STATION 

Lu Jianwang, right, is seen alongside New York City Mayor Eric Adams at the March 2023 event.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment. A spokesperson told Fox News Digital: "Senator Schumer attends countless events in every corner of New York, including with the Asian American community. He was attending the annual Fukinese Association dinner, as he has in years before, and took photos with those present. He had never met this man before and did not know who he was."

The event was a fundraiser for the Fukien American Association, a cultural nonprofit linked to the Chinese province.

In April 2022, Lu also met New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng at a fundraising event, according to The Daily Caller, citing images the outlet found. 

Records show that since 2006, Lu has contributed at least $32,625 to New York elected officials, including Adams and New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

AMERICANS TORN OVER HOW US SHOULD RESPOND TO A CHINESE INVASION OF TAIWAN 

Lu Jianwang, 61, a U.S. citizen charged with conspiring to act as an agent of the Chinese government by helping set up a Chinese "secret police station" in New York, was captured on video with prominent New York Democrats. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)

When announcing Lu’s arrest last week, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) "has repeatedly and flagrantly violated our nation's sovereignty, including by opening and operating a police station in the middle of New York City." 

"Two miles from our office, just across the Brooklyn Bridge, this nondescript office building in the heart of bustling Chinatown in Lower Manhattan has a dark secret. Until several months ago, an entire floor of this building hosted an undeclared police station of the Chinese National Police," Peace said. "Now, just imagine the NYPD opening an undeclared secret police station in Beijing. It would be unthinkable." 

Two New York residents were arrested by FBI for allegedly running an undisclosed Chinese government police station in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood. (U.S. District Court: Eastern District of New York)

"Here's what we know happened inside the secret police station in Lower Manhattan. At the very least, the station was providing some government services, like helping Chinese citizens renew their Chinese driver's licenses," Peace continued. "But to do even that, the law requires that individuals like the defendants who act as agents of a foreign government give prior notice to the attorney general before setting up shop in New York City. That didn't happen." 

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"More troubling, though, is the fact that the secret police station appears to have had a more sinister use on at least one occasion," Peace added. "An official with the Chinese National Police directed one of the defendants – a U.S. citizen who worked at the secret police station – to help locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent living in California. In other words, the Chinese national police appear to have been using the station to track a U.S. resident on U.S. soil."