Thread by @jooeysiiu

Today @FBI Boston Special Agents arrested a Chinese national and Berklee College of Music student Wu Xiao-lei for allegedly stalking an individual who posted fliers supporting protests in China.🧵

ow.ly/vfsr50M3J7r

Wu made multiples threats on various platforms including on WeChat, Instagram and via email, directed at students who posted fliers in support of the recent #A4Revolution protests.

Wu allegedly said, “Post more, I will chop your bastard hands off”, and told the victim that he informed Chinese public security agencies of the victims actions in support of the protests, and that the agencies would “greet” the victim’s family back home.

On top of online threats, Wu also allegedly solicited other individuals to find out the victims personal information, including residency address. He allegedly exposed the victim’s email address to further incite online attacks and harassment against the victim.

Very often when we talk about the CCP’s trans-national repression we focus on state actors including overseas united front agents, chinese consulates/embassies, and other central government extended branches, etc.

However, it is often neglected how big a role non-state stakeholders play in carrying out such massive scale of overseas repression.

And we don’t have established mechanisms in place to effectively trace, monitor and hold relevant actors accountable.

Singular arrests is far from enough to protect victims of trans-national repression.

Racist and oversimplified policy that bans all Chinese students from studying in the United States will not solve the problem.

More resources should be invested in developing an all-round sunshine approach that comprehensively registers, tracks and publicizes relevant state/non-state actors.

Penalizing mechanisms with sufficient deterrent effect has to be introduced and actually put into use to hold predators accountable.

Asylum policies should be considered for individuals threatened and coerced — those who have their family members and loved ones held hostage back home, their visas on the line, etc.

Trans-national repression is quickly becoming one of the most terrifying challenges that many of our communities are facing and countries are not doing enough to protect us from that.

I hope the arrest of Wu signifies the beginning of larger, more comprehensive, and long-term plans that would guarantee added layers of protection to individuals in exile to exercise our deserved rights and freedoms.