A journalist from British Columbia has successfully concluded a defamation lawsuit following a 77-day protest held 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 due to defamatory statements made by defendant Yun Fei Zhu.
Gao testified that Zhu and a group of individuals conducted daily protests outside his home, commencing on September 15, 2020, and lasting until December 1, 2020. The protests, which were live-streamed for approximately five hours a day, usually featured crowds ranging from 10 to 60 people, with Zhu often being portrayed as a leading figure. Additional protests and live-streams occurred in 2023 from January 20 to 25.
During the protests, Gao was falsely labeled as a spy for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with protesters distributing pamphlets revealing his home address and playing funeral music outside his residence. The demonstrators were supporters of Chinese tycoon Guo Wenghui, who founded the New Federal State of China (NFSC) movement aimed at challenging the CCP.
Guo Wenghui, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party, was recently sentenced to 30 years in a U.S. prison for fraud. Justice Hewson’s decision highlighted differing perceptions of Guo, with some viewing him as a brave dissident exposing corruption while others saw him and the NFSC as untrustworthy and cult-like.
As a journalist critical of Guo, Gao was targeted by the protesters who accused him of being a CCP agent. The distributed pamphlets falsely claimed that Gao worked to spread misinformation on behalf of the CCP and received funds from the party. The protests escalated with chants in English and Mandarin derogatory towards Gao.
Zhu, the defendant, was found responsible for defamatory remarks made during the live-streams and was ordered by Hewson to pay Gao $250,000 in general damages and an additional $25,000 in aggravated damages. An injunction was also issued to prevent Zhu from making further defamatory statements, along with a requirement to cover Gao’s $5,000 court costs.