Chinese student in Boston gets 9 months in prison for threatening pro-democracy schoolmate
- Xiaolei Wu, who was studying jazz at the Berklee College of Music, will be deported after serving his sentence in a US prison, a federal judge orders
- Judge says the punishment should serve as a deterrent to other Chinese students who might commit crimes, especially actions to suppress free speech
A Chinese music student in Boston was sentenced to nine months in prison by a US district court judge on Wednesday for harassing and threatening a fellow student who distributed fliers advocating for democracy in China.
In issuing the sentence, Judge Denise Casper noted that Xiaolei Wu, 26, who grew up in Beijing, had no previous criminal history and that he would be deported upon completing his sentence.
She called Wu’s actions – which took place over several days in October 2022 – “egregious” and said the jail sentence served as a deterrent to other Chinese students in the US who might engage in criminal behaviour, especially actions aimed at suppressing free speech.
While studying jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Wu used platforms including WeChat, email and Instagram to communicate directly with the victim, identified as “Miss Zooey”, regarding her campus activism, according to court documents.
Wu also threatened to report her activities to Chinese law enforcement, prosecutors said.