14-Year-Old Chinese Music Student on Trial in the US

A Chinese music student, Xiaolei Wu, is on trial in Boston for harassing a Berklee College of Music activist who supported Chinese democracy.

Photo from Reuters

Chinese Music Student Faces Trial for Alleged Intimidation at Berklee College

At the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea Porter claimed that Wu, 25, terrified activist Zooey by threatening to mutilate her hands online and denouncing her actions to Chinese police. Zooey, who placed pro-democracy leaflets at Berklee, feared for her family in China.

China-born Berklee College of Music student Wu was arrested in December 2022 and has pled not guilty to cyberstalking and interstate threatening communication. Human rights groups accuse China of pressing its critics overseas, including threats to academic freedom and surveillance of Chinese students on Western campuses.

Porter claims Wu threatened Zooey after she posted an Instagram photo of a leaflet promoting freedom and democracy. Wu asked that Zooey remove the flyers on a WeChat chat of Chinese Berklee students and alumni, claiming to have denounced her to a Chinese public security agency. Porter highlighted China’s hatred of Zooey’s posters and suppression of dissent as a major threat.

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Alleged Online Threats and Activism Clash at Berklee College

Wu’s defense counsel, Michael Tumposky, said Wu’s statements were an “immature, online dispute between two young people.” Timposky called Wu an “awkward, nerdy guy” studying jazz in Boston, rejecting any ties to the Chinese government.

He said Wu went out against Zooey’s activities to warn her of the repercussions, adding that his client came to study guitar, not promote the Chinese Communist Party.

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