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China’s embassy and consulates in the US bused a whole lot of pro-Beijing counter-protesters to San Francisco final month to violently suppress demonstrations in opposition to Chinese language President Xi Jinping’s go to, activists and a U.S. lawmaker mentioned on Tuesday.
In lots of circumstances, the San Francisco Police Division stood idly by whereas the assaults have been occurring, in accordance with the activists.
Talking at a media occasion organized by the Congressional-Government Fee on China, the Tibetan, Uyghur, Chinese language and Hong Konger activists mentioned the pro-Beijing counter-protesters continually harassed them and even assaulted them throughout Xi’s four-day go to to town.
Xi was in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation summit, throughout which he additionally met U.S. President Joe Biden in what the White Home promoted as an opportunity for hotter U.S.-China ties.
On the streets of San Francisco, issues have been far much less cordial, with pro-Beijing counter-protesters harassing any anti-Xi voices throughout the 4 days of the summit and beating many who didn’t flee, mentioned Anna Kwok, govt director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council.
What she witnessed made her “coronary heart ache,” she mentioned, and had modified her thoughts in regards to the scope of trans-national repression in America and, due to this fact, the protection of talking out on U.S. soil.
“I believed the US was a secure haven for me to proceed my advocacy work, however final month proved me all improper,” Kwok mentioned. “I’m very sorry to say that I not really feel secure to be in the US, and I not really feel secure to proceed doing my advocacy work.”
“I urge authorities to conduct an intensive and in depth investigation into the violence waged in opposition to us,” she mentioned. “Congress must also move insurance policies to fight transnational repression.”
‘I believed we have been secure’
Carrying a black eye patch, Kaiyu Zhang mentioned he fled from China to the US earlier this yr to flee political persecution, and determined to train his newfound freedoms by becoming a member of a protest in opposition to Xi’s arrival at San Francisco Worldwide Airport on Nov. 14.
After parking his automobile at a Costco about 10 minutes’ stroll away from the protest, he mentioned, about “a dozen younger Chinese language males” began following him – seemingly, he mentioned, after listening to him converse Cantonese to a buddy, which brought about them to supply an expletive-ridden rant about Hong Kong.
“I believed we have been secure in America,” Zhang mentioned. So he replied with the same assortment of expletives about China’s soon-to-arrive president.
The subsequent factor he knew, he recalled, he was thrown to the bottom and was being overwhelmed “violently” by the lads. One other group of males arrived to hitch in sooner or later, he mentioned, and he then misplaced consciousness. He later posted a video of the men onto the X social media platform.
“It was a well-organized and well-coordinated assault,” Zhang mentioned. “The teams of thugs have been carrying pink headbands and pink scarves to determine fellow thug members, and to coordinate with one another.”
Like Kwok, Zhang mentioned his time in San Francisco opened his eyes.
He had as soon as been shocked to fulfill different Chinese language immigrants who nonetheless counsel others in opposition to publicly criticizing the Chinese language Communist Social gathering, even whereas in the US.
“I used to be as soon as offended with them,” he mentioned. “Now I perceive why.”
Police inaction
The activists spoke of the pervasiveness of the harassment.
Pema Doma, the manager director of College students for a Free Tibet, estimated about two dozen younger Tibetan-People have been assaulted by the pro-CCP counter-protesters throughout APEC.
Doma mentioned the “thugs” seemed to be concentrating on younger protesters – together with following them house on the subway from protests – with a view to scare the teams into disbanding or ending the anti-Xi protests.
“Chinese language CCP brokers have been concentrating on people and selecting them off from the group as in the event that they have been prey,” she mentioned. “I used to be very proud that night time when the coed activists, a few of them as younger as 16 … determined they may keep on the protest whatever the threats.”
The counter-protesters labored collectively to make use of giant Chinese language flags each as weapons – leveraging the poles to beat their targets – in addition to covers to cover their violent actions from close by police, she mentioned.
In a single notably unhealthy case, Doma recounted, a Tibetan-American mom alerted police to her son being overwhelmed “about 50 ft away,” however they refused to intervene as a result of it was obscured by the flags.
As a substitute, she mentioned, police cautioned her to not keep away.
“I’ve by no means felt such disappointment as when the San Francisco Police Division informed me ‘We can’t go there,’ they usually truly restrained the mom from going to her personal little one,” she mentioned. “I’ve by no means felt so powerless as a Tibetan-American individual.”
RFA reporters in San Francisco final month witnessed a separate incident the place a protester exterior the Chinese language president’s downtown lodge was surrounded by a gaggle bearing giant flags earlier than being thrown to the bottom and stomped on as police stood close by.
Requires investigation
Each the San Francisco Police Division and the Chinese language Embassy in Washington didn’t reply to requests for remark from RFA.
Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey who serves as a co-chair of the Congressional-Government Fee on China, informed the information convention that he believed police on the scene have been appearing on orders “from above” and mentioned an investigation was warranted.
“These claims, in addition to the non-responsiveness of the San Francisco Police Division … have to be investigated, as this marks an escalation of flagrant transnational repression on United States soil,” Smith mentioned.
Zhou Fengsuo, a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Sq. bloodbath who helped set up the APEC protests in opposition to Xi, mentioned he was no stranger to Beijing utilizing violence “as a political instrument” to silence critics.
However he mentioned he was nonetheless shocked when it was allowed to happen in the US, and in a manner that was so well-organized by Beijing.
“These protester teams have been flown from so far as New York Metropolis, with some well-known CCP supporters main the cost,” he mentioned. “They directed these folks to make use of flag posts to cowl the protesters and to assault these protesters. They determine themselves with pink scarves.”
“I heard witnesses describe the way in which San Francisco police stood by,” he mentioned, including it was not the primary time pro-Beijing teams had attacked anti-CCP protesters on U.S. soil. “I used to be saddened, however not shocked.”
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