A Chinese national who has been studying in Boston has been indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury for allegedly stalking and threatening another Chinese citizen for posting fliers that support democracy in China.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that 25-year-old Xiaolei Wu, a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, was indicted on one count of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communications. He was arrested in December on a single count of stalking.<\/p>\n
The department says an individual posted a flier either on or near the Berklee campus in mid-October written with pro-democracy slogans \u201cWe Want Freedom\u201d and \u201cWe Want Democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Wu allegedly harassed the individual through social media, even threatening to chop off the person\u2019s hands if any more fliers were posted. He also allegedly told the target that he had informed security authorities in China about the fliers and that agents would visit the victim\u2019s family. Prosecutors also say Wu discovered the victim\u2019s email address and posted it online to trigger further harassment.<\/p>\n
Wu faces up to five years in prison on each charge of cyberstalking and interstate transmissions of threatening communications, along with a fine of up to $250,000 for each charge. VOA\u2019s Mandarin Service says the Berklee College of Music has temporarily canceled Wu\u2019s student status.<\/p>\n
According to VOA\u2019s Mandarin Service, Wu\u2019s alleged harassment efforts began shortly after an October incident in Beijing in which a man identified online as Peng Zaizhou hung a banner on the city\u2019s Sitong Bridge opposing President Xi Jinping\u2019s strict “zero-COVID” lockdown policy. His stance resonated with Chinese students overseas, who began putting up pro-democracy posters.<\/p>\n
But the posters were often torn down by Chinese students loyal to Beijing and that some of the Chinese students were harassed to varying degrees. The Chinese Students’ and Scholars Association, which has close ties to Chinese embassies and consulates, has been blamed for the on-campus harassment.<\/p>\n
A report by the Hoover Institution, a U.S.-based research center, accuses the CSSA of undermining the academic freedom of other Chinese students and scholars on U.S. campuses.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Chinese national who has been studying in Boston has been indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury for allegedly stalking and threatening another Chinese citizen for posting fliers that support democracy in China.The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n