By Nate Raymond
BOSTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors said on Wednesday a Chinese citizen attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston stalked and harassed an activist who posted fliers supporting democracy in China and reported the person’s activities to Chinese law enforcement.
Federal prosecutors in Boston said that Xiaolei Wu, 25, did so after threatening through the online messaging service WeChat to chop off the activist’s hands and demanding the person stop posting “reactionary posters” near campus.
Wu was arrested on Wednesday and released later in the day. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Berklee, a private music college, in a statement said the “described behavior is troubling.” It declined further comment, citing ongoing investigations.
The civic activist, a U.S. lawful permanent resident from China who has family there, on Oct. 22 posted a photo on Instagram of a flier on a window that said “Stand with Chinese People,” “We Want Freedom,” and “We Want Democracy.”
Prosecutors said Wu, through a Berklee-focused WeChat group whose 300-plus members included the activist, demanded that any fliers be torn down and said he was reporting the activist to the public security agency in China.
“I already called the tip-off line in the country, the public security agency will go greet your family,” Wu wrote, according to a criminal complaint.
U.S. authorities said they believed Wu was referring to either the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of State Security in China, “both of which investigate political dissidents, including those who voice support for democracy.”
Prosecutors said Wu in a later WeChat post asked for help determining where the unnamed civic activist lived.
In an Oct. 24 email, he told the activist to expect to be arrested upon returning to China and that he believed the individual’s family members would receive a “political review” from the Chinese government, the complaint said.
“You should wash dishes for the capitalist dogs,” Wu wrote, according to the complaint.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang and Bill Berkrot)
