Victim of Pro-CCP Violence At APEC Summit Speaks Out
Kaiyu Zhang told his story at a press conference organized by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
On December 12, 2023, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a press conference on the CCP’s transnational repression, and specifically the violence against human rights defenders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco this past November. Kaiyu Zhang, one of the victims who was hospitalized as a result of the pro-CCP attacks, shared his experience during and after his assault.
The full transcript of Mr. Zhang’s comments is below.
Video credit: IPK Media.
Watch the full press conference on the CECC’s Youtube channel.
Hi everyone. First, I want to thank CECC. I also want to thank the American people to give me this opportunity to tell my story. My name is Kaiyu Zhang.
On November 17th during the APEC summit, I, 51 years old, and, Mr. Chau, 74 years old and Mr. Li, were ambushed and assaulted by Pro-CCP thugs in San Francisco airport. It occurred at about 1PM, when we left the protest site to our car in Costco parking lot, which was about 10 minute’s walk. When we were half way, a dozen of young men blocked the sidewalk in front of us, gazed at us hostilely from far. After we passed them, they started to follow us and was continuously throwing insults at us, such as “fuck you hong konger!” “ fuck you old shits!”. I believe it was because they overheard us speaking Cantonese and Hong Konger are known for their anti-CCP positions, which fell into their category of attacking.
I thought we were safe in America and should not succumb to any CCP intimidation. So I responded with “Fuck CCP” “Fuck Xi Jin Ping”. These words were not aimed at any of these young men. But strangely they were agitated by these anti-CCP words and immediately speeded up and rushed to us. I was tackled down and was brutally beaten up. I lost consciousness very soon. After the assault, Mr. Chau and I were sent to the hospital and I stayed in the ER until the following day.
Luckily we recorded the entire incident with our cellphones. All the footage were passed to the police at the day of the assault. We also posted the footage on internet. On November 24th, an anonymous person informed me of the identity of one of the assailants. I immediately forwarded this information to the police. However, as of December 12th, 25 days after the assault, I received no feedback from the police.
Dear American people,
I want to bring your attention to these facts regarding this assault.
First, the assault occurred far away from the protest site. There were no confrontations with any pro-CCP supporters. We were intentionally targeted, and was ambushed. Initially a dozen of thugs were following us for a few minutes, when we arrived at the Costco gas station, another group of 3 thugs headed toward us. They sandwiched us from rear and front, and assaulted us. These two group of thugs worked together to make sure we couldn’t escape. It was a well-organized and well-coordinated assault.
Second, the two groups of thugs were wearing red headbands and red scarves to identify their fellow thug members and to coordinate with each other. It was a professional action.
Third, the thugs responded swiftly and violently to the anti-CCP words, which is disturbing. Hereby I urged the police and the FBI to investigate any possible connections between the thugs and the CCP.
Fourth, a reporter of KTSF News was assaulted by the same group of thugs just one hour before my assault. The reporter’s phone was grabbed and threw into the water. By our estimation, there were about 60 assaults against anti-CCP demonstrators during APEC summit, however, no assailants were arrested.
I flew from Shanghai to US this March, to flee from the oppression of CCP. I thought I was safe and secure to voice my opinion in this country. But I was wrong.
I have been angry about that so many Chinese people have fled to America due to political suppression but so few of them dared to speak out, even in the US. I once was angry with them but now I understand why. Because CCP’s infiltration into American soil has reached an unbelievably alarming level.
I am aware that my speech would endanger my family in China. But still, I decide to stand up and speak out. I believe more and more people are gonna gain courage from my action and start to rise. And I believe the democracy will prevail. The free world will prevail.
God bless America. Thank you. Thank you, everyone.