US Indicts Chinese Student in Democracy Case - Voice of America - VOA News

A Chinese nationalist who has been studying successful Boston has been indicted by a U.S. national expansive assemblage for allegedly stalking and threatening different Chinese national for posting fliers that enactment ideology successful China.

The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that 25-year-old Xiaolei Wu, a pupil astatine the Berklee College of Music successful Boston, was indicted connected 1 number of cyberstalking and 1 number of interstate transmissions of threatening communications. He was arrested successful December connected a azygous number of stalking.

The section says an idiosyncratic posted a flier either connected oregon adjacent the Berklee field successful mid-October written with pro-democracy slogans “We Want Freedom” and “We Want Democracy.”

Wu allegedly harassed the idiosyncratic done societal media, adjacent threatening to chop disconnected the person’s hands if immoderate much fliers were posted. He besides allegedly told the people that helium had informed information authorities successful China astir the fliers and that agents would sojourn the victim’s family. Prosecutors besides accidental Wu discovered the victim’s email code and posted it online to trigger further harassment.

Wu faces up to 5 years successful situation connected each complaint of cyberstalking and interstate transmissions of threatening communications, on with a good of up to $250,000 for each charge. VOA’s Mandarin Service says the Berklee College of Music has temporarily canceled Wu’s pupil status.

According to VOA’s Mandarin Service, Wu’s alleged harassment efforts began soon aft an October incidental successful Beijing successful which a antheral identified online arsenic Peng Zaizhou hung a banner connected the city’s Sitong Bridge opposing President Xi Jinping’s strict "zero-COVID" lockdown policy. His stance resonated with Chinese students overseas, who began putting up pro-democracy posters.

But the posters were often torn down by Chinese students loyal to Beijing and that immoderate of the Chinese students were harassed to varying degrees. The Chinese Students' and Scholars Association, which has adjacent ties to Chinese embassies and consulates, has been blamed for the on-campus harassment.

A study by the Hoover Institution, a U.S.-based probe center, accuses the CSSA of undermining the world state of different Chinese students and scholars connected U.S. campuses.

Some accusation for this study came from VOA’s Mandarin Service.