A British Columbia journalist who was targeted for months by followers of Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui says he\u2019s feeling \u201ctremendous relief\u201d after Guo was sentenced to 30 years in a U.S. jail for fraud.<\/p>\n
Benson Gao, also often known as Gao Bingchen, says he was \u201coverwhelmed with mixed emotions\u201d on the sentencing, while believing Guo got off evenly considering the \u201cpain and torture\u201d that his family had suffered over the past few years.<\/p>\n
Guo, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a U.S.-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom packed along with his supporters.<\/p>\n
Judge Analisa Torres said Monday that he \u201cpreyed on those in search of to bring democracy to China,\u201d taking their money so he could live lavishly, and he had called upon supporters \u201cto harass and intimidate those that dare to talk out against him.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gao, a critic of Guo\u2019s, was targeted by the tycoon\u2019s supporters who stationed themselves outside his Surrey, B.C., home for 77 days in 2020, in a protest that turned violent after they attacked a friend of Gao\u2019s.<\/p>\n
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Gao says his family\u2019s lives \u201cbecome chaos\u201d attributable to the protests that he says were livestreamed day and night.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and I suffered countless slander and insults, and we also faced immense pressure on our lives and mental well-being, which is unimaginable to those that have never experienced it,\u201d said Gao in an interview on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Two of Guo\u2019s supporters pleaded guilty to assault after attacking Gao\u2019s friend Louis Huang, who was later awarded greater than $156,000 in damages.<\/p>\n
Gao, who says Guo was just like the leader of a \u201cfinancial cult,\u201d says he paid a high price for opposing the businessman, who falsely labelled him a spy for China.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also learned a lesson over the nine years: it\u2019s too dangerous exposing crimes made by someone with vast resources. I used to be threatened at my doorstep, and I don\u2019t think any family could withstand that,\u201d says Gao, adding that he was grateful for his wife\u2019s support and understanding.<\/p>\n
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