Chinese Guitarist Who Is Learning Jazz Music Sentenced To Prison In The US For Threatening Pro-democracy Activists

Illustration. (Pexels/Ekaterina Bolovtsova)

JAKARTA - A Chinese music student was sentenced to nine months in prison in the United States on Wednesday for harassing an activist who put up a brochure supporting democracy in China at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, threatening to report his activities to Chinese law enforcement.

US District Judge Denise Casper in Boston sentenced Xiaolei Wu (26) to nearly three years in prison, to convey the United States' message that it would not tolerate the Bamboo Curtain country's efforts to silence Chinese descendants who expressed opposing views on the government..

Nepal in its ruling assessed that Wu's abuse campaign, despite being "terrible", only lasted briefly, two days, with Wu having no previous criminal history being deported after completing her sentence.

However, he said prison sentences were still needed to prevent residents of the Bamboo Curtain country who came to Uncle Sam's country from repeating such things, making sure they knew "no one should be involved in criminal acts, especially actions that suppress freedom of expression."

Wu, who is in the United States on a student visa, was convicted by a jury in January on cyberstalking charges and threats to what prosecutors say is a campaign he launched to harass recent Berklee graduates who in court are only referred to as Zooey.

He did this after seeing a photo on Instagram uploaded by the activist in October 2022, in the form of a brochure he placed on a private music college campus that reads, "We Want Freedom", "We Want Democracy", and "Stand with Chinese People."

In response, Wu posted in a chat consisting of 300 students and Berklee alumni from China on the WeChat social media application, a demand that the activist remove the "reactionary" leaflet and threaten to cut off his hands if he uploads more.

Prosecutors said he made additional threats and claimed to have called China's public security agency about him, a threat that was followed up by reporting it to his mother, a Chinese government official.

Wu, a jazz guitarist, apologized for his "reckless behavior" in court on Wednesday, saying he should be "responsible and accept what I have done."

"Because it has made Zoey feel threatened, I feel very sorry," he said.

It is known that US and Western authorities have attempted to counter the Beijing Government's efforts to silence its critics abroad. Human rights groups have complained about threats to academic freedom and supervision of Chinese students on campuses at international universities.