Was it a secret Chinese spy headquarters or a ping-pong parlor? New York Chinatown case goes to trial

The plain, glass-clad building stands six stories between a hotel, a spa and a coffee shop in the heart of Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood.

U.S. prosecutors say it was a secret Chinese spy outpost, with orders from Beijing to silence, harass and intimidate pro-democracy dissidents in the U.S., and a banner inside that said: “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York USA.”

Lawyers for the man accused of running it, Lu Jianwang, contend it was a community center — and nothing more ...