The America Changle Association is a New York City-based organization with links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ¹ that claims to represent and promote the interests of more than 300,000 overseas Chinese in the United States who are originally from the Chinese district of Changle, located in Fujian Province. ^{2 3 4}

In 2021, the America Changle Association supported the New York City mayoral campaign of Eric Adams (D). ^{5 6} American Changle Association president Lu Jianshun contributed $4,000 to Adams’s campaign. ⁷

In April 2023, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Lu Jianwang, who at the time was general advisor to the group and the group’s former president, and Chen Jinping, who at the time was the group’s secretary general. The two were charged with operating an illegal Chinese police station out of the group’s headquarters, with acting as agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and for destroying their communications when confronted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ⁸

In September 2024, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported that Lu Jianwang  and Lu Jianshun had previously supported campaigns for U.S. Representative Grace Meng (D-NY), which included attending events with Meng and making donations to her reelection campaigns under an alias. ⁹

History and Leadership

The America Changle Association was founded in 1998. ¹⁰ In 2017, it was granted tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). ¹¹ In 2022, its tax-exempt status was automatically revoked by the IRS for failure to file a tax return for three or more years. ¹² The group later filed a tax return in 2022. ¹³

Lu Jianshun is the president of the America Changle Association. ^{5 14} Under the name of “James Lu,” ⁷ Lu Jianshun contributed $4,000 in support of the campaign of Eric Adams (D) for mayor of New York City. ¹⁵ Lu Jianshun  has been photographed at events with former mayor Bill de Blasio (D) ¹⁶ and was also present at a fundraiser for the Adams campaign that was hosted by several Chinese organizations in January 2020. ¹⁷ Jianshun and his younger brother Lu Jianwang also attended events in support of U.S. Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY). Jianwang donated $2,100 to Meng between 2014 and 2022 under the name “Harry Lu” and Jianshun donated $11,700 to Meng under the name “James Lu” between 2012 and 2020. ⁹

Lu Jianwang is the former president of the group. As of January 2025, he is facing federal charges for allegedly helping establish an overseas Chinese police station out of the group’s offices. ⁸

Activities and Funding

The America Changle Association is a New York City-based organization that claims to represent and promote the interests of more than 300,000 Chinese people in the United States who are originally from the Changle district in Fujian Province. ^{3 4}

The America Changle Association has participated in events hosted by the CCP-affiliated United Front Work Department (UFWD) ¹ and openly participated in events celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China. ^{18 19}

In the summer of 2019, the American Changle Association urged its members to protest then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen’s visit to New York City. Several activists with the group displayed Chinese flags while playing Chinese songs from a loudspeaker. The protesters then physically confronted and attacked a group of counter-protesters made up of Chinese dissidents who were demonstrating in support of Ing-Wen. The attacks hospitalized five pro-democracy demonstrators, as they had been beaten with flagpoles and other weapons in what they alleged was a premediated attack. The New York City Police Department did not charge anyone in relation to the attack. ²⁰

The America Changle Association supported the 2021 New York City mayoral campaign of Eric Adams (D) and met with Adams several times during the campaign. ^{5 6} As of October 2024, one of Adams’ leading fundraisers and top advisors, Winnie Greco, is under federal investigation over her ties to China, including to the group. ²¹

In September 2022, the America Changle Association hosted Adams at a gala during which Adams reportedly called the group an “important and powerful social organization” that “makes great contributions to New York where they live, and plays an important role in promoting new immigrants to improve their quality of life in New York.” ¹⁵ According to the New York Times, Lu Jianshun bragged in Mandarin that he had opened an overseas police station at the group’s headquarters at the event. ²¹

In 2021, Chinese state media reported that the America Changle Association participated in a livestream with the CCP-affiliated United Front Work Department and other propaganda offices to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. ²²

In March 2021, the group held a videocall with CCP and UFWD officials during which the officials allegedly acknowledged the group’s role in planting a UFWD “liaison office” in Manhattan, according to Fujian province’s official news agency. During the call, Lu Jianwang thanked the UFWD for establishing the office to connect overseas Chinese with the Fujian government. A report on the call identified Jianwang as the “special liaison officer for the Changle District Court” in reference to his role as liaison between the UFWD and the overseas Chinese people who are connected to America Changle Association. ²³

In April 2023, the New York Daily News reported that Lu Jianwang and Lu Jianshun had given $32,625 to New York elected officials, including Governor Kathy Hochul (D). The largest recipient of funds from the two was State Senator John Liu (D-Queens), according to the report. ²⁴

In July 2023, the group reopened its office and hosted an American Independence Day celebration there. National Review claimed the celebration was seemingly a means of rehabilitating the group’s public image. ²⁵

In July 2023, Radio Free Asia reported that Lu Jianwang led Chinese associations in demonstrations within New York’s Times Square to celebrate Hong Kong returning to Chinese sovereignty. ²⁰

Criticism

The America Changle Association has been accused by human-rights groups ²⁶ of operating a Chinese “police overseas service station” ²⁷ operated by the Chinese government to spy on Chinese nationals in the United States. ¹⁵

The America Changle Association is alleged to host the Fuzhou Police’s overseas service station in New York City. ²⁸ According to the New York Post, the America Changle Association spent $1.3 million for a suite of offices in Manhattan that houses the Fuzhou Police Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau. ¹⁵

According to the Madrid-based Safeguard Defenders, the New York office is one of the first 30 overseas “law enforcement” offices established by the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau. ²⁹ It allegedly contributes to  “resolutely cracking down on all kinds of illegal and criminal activities involving overseas Chinese,” ³⁰ despite Chinese-government claims that these offices are established to support Chinese nationals renew government-issued identification. ¹⁵ The report also says the stations participate in “intimidation, harassment, detention, or imprisonment” to spy on dissenters and repatriate migrants. ³¹

In an October 2022 letter ³² to then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, several Republican members of Congress asked whether or not the U.S. government approved the Fuzhou police to establish a presence in New York City. ²⁸

Kris Cheng, a Hong Kong journalist, translated from a report from the Voice of America Cantonese service that characterized a member of the America Changle Association saying the Chinese police service station in New York “has become defunct” as of November 2022. ^{27 33}

In July 2023, Radio Free Asia published an investigative report alleging that America Changle Association members harassed Chinese dissidents in the U.S. One dissident, Ge Bidong, alleged that members of the organization spied on him even as he traveled across the U.S. He further alleged that he had his car tires slashed, receiving thousands of prank calls, and was threatened with death after he criticized the CCP government online. Bidong suggested that he was the unnamed victim of harassment that prosecutors alleged that Lu Jianwang targeted in his indictment. ²⁰

Indictments

In April 2023, the U.S. Justice Department indicted the American Changle Association’s former president and then-general advisor Lu Jianwang and it secretary general Chen Jinping. The two were charged with operating an illegal overseas Chinese police station out of the group’s offices, serving as unregistered foreign agents for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and obstructing justice by destroying their communications when confronted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The indictment alleged that the PRC government worked with the two men and the group to harass and intimidate Chinese dissidents living in the United States. The indictment alleged that the two men and the group established the overseas police station in early 2022 and closed in the fall of 2022 after the FBI began investigating. ⁸

In April 2023, Lu Jianshun denied operating an overseas Chinese police station out of the offices of the America Changle Association. Jianshun claimed his office was a police overseas service station used to help Chinese immigrants renew their Chinese driver’s licenses and other Chinese legal documents. Jianshun claimed that no Chinese police officers had ever stepped foot in his offices and instead had been used during the COVID-19 pandemic to help Chinese residents complete legal forms and get legal documents since they could not travel back to China. He also claimed the station set its hours in order accommodate the time difference with China so the group’s members could have virtual appointments with officers back in China to process their documents. ³⁴

As of December 2024, Chen Jinping had pled guilty and, at this writing, awaits sentencing. Jinping faces up to five years in prison. Lu Jianwang pled not guilty and was awaiting trial. The Chinese foreign ministry denies the existence of overseas police stations. ³⁵

Other Affiliated Groups

As of October 2022, Lu Jianshun was co-chairman of the Alliance of Asian American Friends (AAAF), which consists of several “alliance units” that included America Changle Association. ^{23 36}

In September 2023, Newsweek reported that several leaders of the America Changle Association had taken leadership positions with the Fukien American Association. Lu Jianwang had become president of the Fukien American Association in March 2023. In July 2023, the Fukien American Association held an event commemorating the return of Hong Kong to China from the United Kingdom. Lu Jianshun attended the event, along with representatives from U.S. Rep. Grace Meng’s (D-NY) and New York Mayor Eric Adams’s (D) offices. In July 2023, Radio Free Asia reported that the Fukien American Association’s headquarters was across the street from the America Changle Association. ^{20 37}

Funding

America Changle Association receives funding from membership fees, ³⁸ individual donations, and food sales. ³⁹

In 2018, America Changle Association reported revenue of $188,450 and expenses of $113,566. ⁴⁰ In 2017, the organization reported revenue of $197,592 and expenses of $148,816. ⁴¹

In 2022, the group reported revenue of $74,163, expenses of $67,335, and net assets of $938,685. ¹³

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