A bipartisan U.S. panel is pressing the Department of Justice to investigate the attack on Chinese human rights advocates who protested the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader’s visit in San Francisco.
In a letter dated Dec. 15 to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, flagged video and anecdotal evidence of state-backed Chinese assailants violently attacking peaceful Chinese protesters who tried to demonstrate against the regime’s abuses during the week of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit.
With the Justice Department (DOJ) having made a priority to combat coordinated CCP’s transnational repression in the United States, they said they want to see whether such violence constitutes a violation of pro-democracy activists’ civil rights and what steps can be taken to hold the perpetrators to account.
They asked the DOJ to provide a briefing about the attacks, posing questions on their knowledge of potential violence and the steps they took in anticipation of the attacks, what steps the FBI has taken following the violence, and if they have traced any of the assaults to official Chinese channels.
“The compelling testimonies provided by the victims—coupled with what we know about the Chinese Communist Party and how they work—paint a pretty clear picture of coordinated attempts to silence protesters in San Francisco and shield Xi Jinping from even seeing protestors,” Mr. Smith told The Epoch Times. “The victims—based on years of harassment—have all concluded it is the CCP. Who else would want to commit such violence except CCP agents and their diplomats?”
What he wants is “definitive information” from the DOJ on “exactly who and how they are targeting and carrying out such brazen attacks,” so that “we can name names and better protect the victims who are peaceful, non-violent human rights advocates,” he added.
Wielding metal rods, flagpoles, and using pepper spray, the CCP supporters had charged at dozens of Chinese activists and caused over 10 injuries by some estimates.
Hong Kong Democracy Council’s executive director Anna Kwok, who recalled seeing the assailants snatching the phone of a Tibetan protester out of his hands and tossing it into the river after finding the protester had filmed them during the attack, urged the DOJ to act during a congressional hearing on Dec. 13.
“That is just one of the things that the Chinese government is not afraid of doing on American soil exactly because they know these perpetrators likely do not really have to pay a price um they will not be hunted down because law enforcement is basically not equipped enough to do that,” Ms. Kwok said.
While leaving the protest site, she said she also noticed four men with a “strongly built physique,” military style haircut, and earpieces stalking her.
Their message to her was obvious: “You’ll be watched,” she said.
The Epoch Times has documented the ties of some pro-Beijing supporters to the Chinese consulates. A man from Fujian was recorded acknowledging that all his costs would be covered for joining the pro-CCP group to welcome the communist leader Xi Jinping—information that aligns with information shared on social media as well as accounts of several individuals who are themselves acquaintances of the beneficiaries of similar Beijing-sponsored trips to San Francisco.
The Chinese embassy has defended itself, claiming in a media statement that the Chinese welcoming community had “voluntarily traveled to San Francisco” but were subject to “multiple incidents of provocations and violent attacks.” It didn’t respond to The Epoch Times’ questions about the calls for investigating the assault on dissident groups.
Assault victim Zhang Kaiyu, who arrived in the United States this year to escape the oppressive environment in China, said that over 10 people wearing red head scarves or ribbons had ambushed him and two other protesters on their way back from a Nov. 17 protest at the San Francisco International Airport. The pro-CCP aggressors had also tried to provoke them with insulting language in Cantonese.
After Mr. Zhang made clear he was anti-CCP, they tackled him and beat him with such force that he lost consciousness. He woke up with cuts and bruises around his forehead, eyes, and lips, and stayed in the hospital until 2 a.m. the following morning. The attackers had, an hour earlier, robbed a reporter of his phone and threw it into water, Mr. Zhang told The Epoch Times.
“All the evidence points to the CCP,” he said in an interview, adding that he hopes U.S. authorities will investigate those who are backing the attacks on China rights activists like himself and the others who got attacked.
To the Chinese embassy’s claims, Mr. Zhang noted that the attacks—both toward him and his companions, who were also beaten previously during other rights protests—have been documented by video.
“Everyone has eyes,” he said. “We don’t even need to exaggerate anything.”
From The Epoch Times
