A journalist in British Columbia successfully sued for defamation following a lengthy protest outside his residence in Surrey in 2020. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Richard Hewson ruled in favor of Bing Chen Gao, awarding him $275,000 in damages after determining that Yun Fei Zhu had made defamatory remarks about him.
Gao testified that Zhu and a group of protesters demonstrated outside his home daily from September 15, 2020, to December 1, 2020. The protests, which attracted crowds ranging from 10 to 60 people, were livestreamed for about five hours a day by Zhu, who was seen as a prominent figure.
Additional protests and livestreams occurred outside Gao’s residence from January 20 to 25, 2023, as highlighted in court records. The protesters accused Gao of being a spy for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), distributed leaflets with his home address, and played somber music near his house.
The demonstrators were supporters of Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, a vocal critic of the CCP who founded the New Federal State of China (NFSC) movement aiming to replace the ruling party in China. Recently, Wengui received a 30-year prison sentence in the United States for involvement in a significant fraud case.
Justice Hewson’s decision noted the conflicting views on Wengui, with some seeing him as a brave whistleblower against corruption while others viewed him and the NFSC as untrustworthy and conspiratorial. Gao, a journalist critical of Wengui, was also targeted by the protesters, who accused him of being aligned with the CCP despite his past involvement in pro-democracy activities in China.
Pamphlets distributed during the protests falsely claimed that Gao posed as an anti-communist activist, spread misinformation on a dedicated YouTube channel for the CCP, and received funds from the party. The livestreams captured protesters hurling insults at Gao in both English and Mandarin, labeling him as a “CCP spy” and using derogatory terms.
Zhu, one of the defendants, admitted to participating in the protests until an assault occurred in the area, prompting a temporary halt before resuming in 2023. Gao revealed that the assault targeted a friend and detailed how the ongoing protests impacted his family members.
Justice Hewson held Zhu responsible for the defamatory statements made during the livestreams and awarded Gao $250,000 in general damages along with an additional $25,000 in aggravated damages. Furthermore, an injunction was issued to prevent Zhu from making similar defamatory remarks in the future, and he was ordered to cover $5,000 in court expenses.
