Chinese music student faces US trial for alleged threats to activist
BOSTON (Reuters) - A Chinese music student went on trial on Monday on U.S. charges that he harassed an activist who posted fliers at the Berklee College of Music in Boston supporting democracy in China and threatened to report her activities to Chinese law enforcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea Porter told a federal jury in Boston that Xiaolei Wu, 25, scared the activist, referred to only as Zooey in court, by making threats online to chop off her hands and report her to the Chinese government because of her "reactionary posters."
"She was afraid for herself, and she was afraid for her family, who was back in China," Porter said in her opening statement to a 12-person jury.
The trial comes as U.S. and Western authorities continue to warn that China's government has increasingly exerted pressure to silence its critics abroad.
I’m usually much more merciful, but this guy pisses me off. He threatened to cripple a woman for life, and ruin the lives of her family members. I don’t care if the argument was “immature” and the guy is “misguided”. Those were major threats, and the fear he created is very real.
Being a hardcore nationalist is not a defense. Send this wannabe CCP agent back to the country he loves so much.
Nationalism is poison, no matter the nation.
AFTER some time in US jail.
Yup, same. He probably won't get punished at home per se, but we certainly don't need to endorse him with our prestigious education system.
This was a genuinely bad action which deserves real consequences.
Stupid kid is ruining his life for a government that doesn't care about him. And might be responsible for a family being hurt.
Inb4 the token "Westerners are so brainwashed with propaganda" guy who shows up in every other thread about China or Russia
bruh one of the tankies really argued that chinese authority is the only path for earth.
Reminds me of "manditory conformity for the sake of unity" Texas seems to be supporting.
They told me that I am racist for supporting Ukraine because Russia, you see, has decided to re-exert its Asian identity. Oh, and totally check out these two articles that prove what they are saying. Oh, and I'm a terrible person for not agreeing.
yeah the antileftist arguement for the longest time is 'HEY COMRADE? You hate ethnocentricity.... Well try OUR flavor!"
I was also shocked to find that tankies think that anyone who talks about human impacts on the Earth are ecofacists. Weird people.
So if they get convicted do they just get sent back? That feels like the easy fix.
I dunno. I think it might depend on if he gets a sentence of more than probation. He may have to serve time first then get deported.
Certainly possible to have your immigration status revoked because of a conviction, but there are plenty of immigrants in US prisons.
Yeah but this person's a student though? They're not technically here to immigrate, they're here on a temporary basis to study.
Anyone who isn’t a US citizen has an immigration status. You can be on a variety of visas, and as a student they are probably on a J1 or H1 visa. Other visas exist for a wide variety of purposes, and they all dictate how you can stay in the US: how long, under what conditions, etc.
You can also have a green card, which signifies that you are a permanent resident - you no longer need a visa but your immigration status can still be revoked (albeit with much more difficulty).
There are also people with no immigration status and no legal right to stay in the US. These people won’t always be instantly deported but they are subject to it at any time.
Finally if you’re a US citizen you have no immigration status since you are not an immigrant. Citizenship can’t be revoked except in exceedingly rare cases (like treason).
Why would that happen?
They would be deported once their sentence completes.
+1000 social credit
Actually I think he came to do both.
Reading the heading, I wasn't sure if it was a Chinese music student, or a Chinese-music student