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SAN FRANCISCO — A man protesting against China’s ruling Communist Party at the recent Asia-Pacific economic summit in San Francisco shared details Wednesday of an attack by pro-China supporters, saying he was knocked unconscious and that police should take action. measures against their attackers.
Kaiyu Zhang, who moved from Shanghai to Los Angeles in March, told reporters that he and two other protesters were attacked on Nov. 17 by a group of youths wearing red headbands or armbands after leaving a protest in the city’s international airport as the leaders departed. the city.
His comments came a day after bipartisan leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China condemned efforts to silence critics of the Chinese Communist Party, known as the CCP. Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon cited videos of protests at the APEC summit that showed human rights activists being harassed and assaulted by counterprotesters.
“We, the chairmen of the CECC, strongly condemn the reported violence perpetrated against individuals exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly in the United States. “We urge San Francisco County Police to review these reports and seek justice where appropriate,” they said in a statement Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with President Joe Biden and other foreign leaders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, which was held in downtown San Francisco for a week and attracted foreign dignitaries, journalists and many protesters .
Mobile phone videos taken by Zhang show young men, most dressed in black and wearing baseball caps, headbands or red scarves, following him closely, and at least one of them cursing at him. Zhang shouted a profanity at Xi before being rushed by the men, still recording as they beat him to the ground.
Zhang, 51, said he and a 74-year-old man were injured and that he lost consciousness. They both had to be hospitalized and he said he is still recovering from injuries to his head and left eye.
“How could this happen in the United States? “This is only supposed to happen in China,” Zhang said.
Zhang was at the South San Francisco Police Department headquarters to give investigators what he believes is the name of one of his attackers. Police had previously said an assault and battery investigation was underway, but reported no arrests.
The Congressional Executive Committee said the group Human Rights in China alleged that counterprotesters may have ties to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. An email seeking comment from the consulate did not immediately receive a response Wednesday.
Opposition groups and dissidents have long alleged that the Chinese government is behind incidents of violence and physical or online harassment directed at critics living abroad. Chinese officials have denied any involvement, although when Xi travels, local pro-Beijing groups gather at major events to show a strong welcome and drown out protesters.
In San Francisco during APEC, protesters showed up in front of the Chinese consulate and the main APEC conference center with messages against Xi and the Chinese government. But tall metal fences were set up to separate the crowds from Xi’s motorcade, and Chinese and American flags were used to hide them from view. Pro-Beijing groups surrounded protesters with large Chinese flags and used loudspeakers to drown out their chants.
Several skirmishes broke out and people were thrown to the ground, and in some cases police officers intervened.
The San Francisco Police Department received several reports of violence during APEC week and took action to make arrests when officers witnessed attacks or were alerted to attacks in a timely manner, said Sergeant Kathryn Winters. She said the department continues to investigate complaints arising from the summit, but did not specifically answer whether it was investigating allegations of harassment or assault against people protesting against the Chinese government.
In recent years, law enforcement officials in the United States have repeatedly warned about what they see as aggressive and criminal efforts by Beijing to stalk, harass and intimidate political dissidents in the United States, a pattern of behavior known as repression. transnational.
The Justice Department has brought multiple cases against agents they say worked on behalf of a Chinese government, including attempting to derail the congressional campaign of a little-known candidate in New York who decades earlier had been a student leader in Tiananmen Square. Protests in Beijing. In one particularly notable case, a private investigator in New York was convicted last June after prosecutors said he had been hired to try to intimidate an expatriate Chinese dissident living quietly in New Jersey into returning home.
Last year, relations between Britain and China fell to a new low after a Hong Kong protester said he was dragged into the Chinese consulate in Manchester, England, and beaten by several members of the consulate staff during a peaceful protest at favor of democracy.
The incident drew widespread criticism from British lawmakers, and China subsequently recalled six UK officials, including the head of the Manchester consulate, before British police had a chance to question them.
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Associated Press writers Didi Tang and Eric Tucker in Washington, Sylvia Hui in London and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed to this report.