A former Berklee College of Music student from China was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in prison for stalking and threatening a person who posted a flyer in support of democracy in the Asian country, authorities said.
The leaflet that was posted on the campus in Boston on Oct. 22 read, “Stand with Chinese People,” along with other statements such as “We Want Freedom” and “We Want Democracy,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston said.
In response, Xiaolei Wu, 26, threatened to chop off the person’s hands, reported their family to China’s public security agency, asked others to find out where the person was living and publicly posted their email address, prosecutors said.
“Mr. Wu’s criminal conduct is very serious. He harnessed the fear of potential retribution from the PRC government to harass and threaten an innocent individual who had posted an innocuous, pro-democracy flier on the Berklee campus,” acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “Mr. Wu’s violent threats achieved his goal of instilling fear in his effort to silence this brave victim and others who might want to speak out against the PRC government.”
This guy didn’t come to West for freedom, he come to be educated by, and live in, the current global hegemonic power. By itself that is valuable experience, but it also carries significant social and political currency to the individual when they move back to China.