The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit was held in San Francisco last year. It was a big deal for the city which made a special effort to clean up the homeless in time for the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi had a meeting with President Biden during the gathering. 

On the streets, there were lots of protesters, both anti-CCP and pro-CCP. The two groups occasionally got into fights and traded blows. But after a months-long investigation, the Washington Post published a story today revealing who was behind those violent pro-China demonstrations. You won't be shocked to learn a lot of this appears to have been coordinated by Chinese consulates and other groups coordinating with China's Foreign Ministry.

US officials described what happened as "transnational repression." This is literally the Chinese police state extending itself into America to bully and beat up anti-CCP protesters.

Beijing billed Xi’s visit as the start of a new, friendlier chapter in U.S.-China relations, his first to the United States in six years. But U.S. officials described the events in San Francisco as an example of Beijing’s “transnational repression” — its efforts to intimidate and silence critics, including through violence, outside its borders.

The Post story walks through a number of instances of violence, the worst of which was this one by a group of goons wearing red scarves who attacked three protesters:

On Nov. 17, the three men were walking away from a protest site when they passed a group of nine young men, some wearing red scarves used to signify support for the CCP during Xi’s visit.

The group started following Zhang, Chau and Li. One of the young men yelled “F--- you!”. Zhang said he felt emboldened to respond: “F--- Xi Jinping.” This was America, where he believed it was safe to speak his mind.

Then, almost immediately, they were surrounded and beaten.

The attack left Zhang briefly unconscious. Video shows him dazed and bleeding. He was taken to an emergency room where he was treated for signs of concussion and other wounds, he said.

The FBI was handed the case but won't confirm or deny whether they are investigating it. So far, no one involved has been arrested. Several more violent incidents took place on Nov. 15.

a Chinese activist named Wang Wei wearing a “free China” armband got into an argument with a group of CCP supporters, identifiable by the red scarves draped around their necks. Video shows that as the argument escalated to a fight, the CCP supporters used Chinese flags to try to obscure cameras from capturing the violence. Wang was jabbed with a flagpole and kicked in the head, he said in an interview...

By the end of that day, the pro-CCP contingent including Yang became more aggressive, stalking protesters and using gloves with metal knuckles, metal rods and flagpoles in scuffles, videos show.

The pro-CCP demonstrations involved hundreds of people who were organized by Chinese businessmen who serve as unofficial extensions of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The Post identified 32 Chinese diaspora leaders who helped organize these contingents, many with ties to the Chinese state, according to a review of Chinese state-linked media, official Chinese government websites and social media pages, diaspora leaders’ social media pages, as well as photos and videos.

Among them was Los Angeles-based business owner Lu Qiang, a co-founder or founder of several pro-CCP organizations. In an interview with the World Journal, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers in the United States, Lu said he had organized 20 buses, booked 400 hotel rooms and coordinated 800 people arriving to welcome Xi at APEC...

On the website for the alliance of Chinese restaurant owners in the United States, which Lu is on the advisory board of, he describes himself in a short bio as the “backbone” of the Chinese Consulate’s overseas consular assistance volunteers program. The program is run by China’s Foreign Ministry and recruits high-profile Chinese diaspora leaders overseas to help consulates and embassies with administrative and other tasks.

To be clear, these businessmen coordinated the buses and hotel rooms but the Chinse consulate paid for them. This was all being organized and funded from the top down.

In addition to the useful idiots who were bused in for these events, the Chinese consulate also hired private security guards, paying them $70 an hour. It became clear to some of the guards working this job that the consulate wanted them to step in an fight with anti-Xi protesters. And on a couple of occasions they did wade into protests to break them up.

The point of all of this was to make it seem as if everyone in America was thrilled to see Xi Jinping. That could then be broadcast back home as proof of what a great world leader he is.

Beijing “wants to show the people [back] in China how American people welcome Xi,” said Gao Guangjun, a New York-based lawyer who escaped China following the Tiananmen Square massacre and is familiar with the Chinese diaspora in the United States.

“It’s propaganda,” he added, “that’s the reason they spend a lot of money on it.”

Again, the FBI is apparently investigating but won't confirm anything. These Chinse businessmen in San Francisco and New York would seem to be acting as foreign agents. Could they be charged with FARA violations? I'm not an attorney so I don't know for certain if there's a case here but it seems like an angle the FBI could take.

In any case, it's worth noting that the CCP is happy to bully and beat up anyone who challenges them, even here in the US.