Two human rights activists roughed up during the visit of China’s second most powerful person to New Zealand suspect it wasn’t a random incident. Police reopen their investigation.

By Paula Penfold | Published by Stuff NZ

Summary

Human rights activists, Michael Zhuang and Jian Xing, were assaulted during a visit by Chinese Premier Li to New Zealand in June. An investigation using video analysis and facial recognition confirmed suspicions that the incident reflected a broader pattern of transnational repression, where authoritarian regimes intimidate critics abroad.

“This isn’t just people getting into a fight on the street,” says Zhuang. “You have a foreign state, which in this case is also an authoritarian state that does not share the values of a liberal democracy, setting up these front organisations in New Zealand supporting their cause.

“And they’ve done it to the point that they’re just so confident nothing is going to happen if they assault people who disagree with them on the street.”

Xing interprets it as a message to the entire New Zealand Chinese community.

“This is something that came straight from China.”

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