Chinese diplomats and U.S.-based pro-China diaspora groups were behind often-violent demonstrations against anti-Beijing protesters in San Francisco in November, the The Washington Post reported Tuesday after a six-month investigation.
The unrest occurred during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was in town for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The Post analyzed more than 2,000 photos and videos, interviewed dozens of witnesses and pored over text messages, WeChat messages, and other evidence to determine that Pro-CCP-based groups were behind the violence.
Among the main findings:
- Pro-CCP activists instigated the worst of the violence, which was then carried out by coordinated groups of young men embedded among them. Assailants used extended flagpoles and chemical spray to attack anti-Xi protesters, and also punched and kicked them.
- The Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles paid for supporters’ hotels and meals as an incentive to participate. That included at least 35 pro-CCP Chinese diaspora groups, some of which were from the east coast.
- At least four Chinese diplomats from the Los Angeles and San Francisco consulates were among the crowd of pro-CCP protesters, and they directly engaged with aggressive actors over four days of protests.
In response to the report, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. told the Post in an emailed statement: "A few U.S. organizations and agencies have been piecing together fabricated 'evidence' to make defamatory assumptions and groundless 'investigations' about the voluntary welcoming groups, as well as smearing allusions to Chinese diplomats and consulates in the U.S.
"Such narratives are sheer political maneuvering, which China strongly opposes. The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to immediately stop the erroneous practices of hyping up falsehoods."
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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