A British Columbia journalist has won a $275,000 defamation lawsuit after supporters of Chinese businessman Guo Wengui staged a 77-day protest outside his Surrey home in 2020 and accused him of being a Chinese Communist Party spy. In a decision issued Thursday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Richard Hewson found Yun Fei Zhu liable for defamatory statements made about journalist Bing Chen Gao, including statements made by other speakers during livestreams that Zhu published. Gao was awarded $250,000 in general damages and $25,000 in aggravated damages. The court also ordered Zhu not to repeat the defamatory statements and told him to pay Gao $5,000 in court costs.
According to Gao's testimony, Zhu and others protested outside his Surrey home every day from September 15 to December 1, 2020. The crowds varied in size, ranging from around 10 people to as many as 60. The demonstrations were livestreamed, mainly by Zhu, who the court described as being treated as a "leader" of the protests.
The livestreams reportedly continued for about five hours a day and were watched by an online audience. The protests did not end there. The court decision says more demonstrations and livestreams took place outside Gao's home between January 20 and January 25, 2023.
Gao said the protesters called him a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spy, distributed pamphlets that revealed his home address and played funeral music outside his property.
Protesters accused journalist of working for CCP
The protesters were supporters of Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party. Wengui founded the New Federal State of China (NFSC), a political movement that calls for replacing the CCP in China. Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo, who founded a group called the New Federal State of China with former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon.
Hewson noted that views of Wengui and the NFSC were sharply divided. "Some viewed Guo Wengui as a courageous dissident exposing corruption, while others regarded him and the NFSC as unreliable, conspiratorial and cult-like," the decision said.
Gao had worked as a journalist and was an outspoken critic of Wengui. At the same time, he had also been a critic of the CCP and had participated in China's pro-democracy movement before moving to Canada in 2004. Despite that background, protesters accused him of secretly working for the Chinese government.
Pamphlets made serious accusations
Some of the pamphlets distributed during the demonstrations accused Gao of pretending to be an anti-communist activist while secretly helping the CCP influence public opinion.
One pamphlet stated: "Gao disguises himself as an anti-communism activist and has set up a special YouTube channel to spread false information on behalf of the CCP, steer public opinion, and defame real anti-communism activists and the Canadians who are against the CCP." The protesters also accused Gao of taking money from the CCP.
During the livestreams, protesters could reportedly be heard chanting phrases in both English and Mandarin, including "CCP spy," "stinky dog poop," "trash," "we all hate your guts," and "everybody on this cul-de-sac hates you."
Gao testified that the demonstrations had an impact not only on him but also on his family, including his wife, young daughter and elderly mother-in-law.
Zhu testified that he stopped participating in the demonstrations after an assault occurred in the cul-de-sac but later returned for the protests in 2023.
Justice Hewson ultimately found Zhu liable not only for his own defamatory comments but also for defamatory statements made by other speakers during livestreams that he published.
