BOSTON (Reuters) - A Chinese music student went on trial on Monday on U.S. charges that he harassed an activist who posted fliers at the Berklee College of Music in Boston supporting democracy in China and threatened to report her activities to Chinese law enforcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alathea Porter told a federal jury in Boston that Xiaolei Wu, 25, scared the activist, referred to only as Zooey in court, by making threats online to chop off her hands and report her to the Chinese government because of her “reactionary posters.”

“She was afraid for herself, and she was afraid for her family, who was back in China,” Porter said in her opening statement to a 12-person jury.

The trial comes as U.S. and Western authorities continue to warn that China’s government has increasingly exerted pressure to silence its critics abroad.

    • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      9 months ago

      yeah ours is bad as fuck but…parts of you get sold over there. Didn’t most of that bodies exhibit turn out to be Chinese prisoners?

      • SuperApples@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        9 months ago

        There’s enough provable atrocities being committed by the Chinese govt to worry about the conspiracy theories as well. Especially when a lot of the body and organ harvest theories are spread by a California mansion dwelling homophobic cult leader who can totally levitate he just doesn’t have to prove it to you!

        • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          10
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          9 months ago

          Just looked it up again. Lot’s of accusations and basically all the Bodies people have said is ‘nope totally donated from this one medical school’ but that school can provide absolutely no documentation that they are actually donated willingly.

          • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            9 months ago

            Well, the school might have…. But where did they get the bodies from (ominous music!)

            • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              7
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              9 months ago

              No seriously that’s the crux of this. Thats where the paper trail seems to run cold it seems. They definitely came from this school and the school is just like ‘fuck you they were donated’

                • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  6
                  ·
                  9 months ago

                  Under normal circumstances? But people donating their body for things like this and wanting it to be left a total secret? You would think the people who donated their bodies to be part of this display would want it to be known that they did this

                  • Lemminary@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    9 months ago

                    A lot of people do donate their body “for scientific use” which can mean anything from a single necropsy, to being left to decompose in the sun for criminalistics research, to being filletted into thin strips to show at the museum. I would do that if I could, no need to thank me when I’m dead.

      • Lemminary@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        Parts of people have always been sold for research and it’s no different than any other reagent. Some people even turned this into a successful business by the turn of the 50s by selling and patenting their tissues with remarkable abilities like immunity to polio. This wouldn’t surprise anyone in the medical sciences.

    • Deceptichum@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      9 months ago

      Ah Chinese are aware of the dangers of being invited for tea. They’d probably be in trouble if they didn’t harass this person.