Gao Bing Chen awarded $275,000 in defamation suit after harassment

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has awarded $275,000 in defamation damages to journalist and commentator Gao Bing Chen. The ruling follows a period of intense harassment directed at Gao by a group of protesters.

For 11 weeks, a group of up to 60 people gathered outside Gao’s home in Surrey, B.C., distributing pamphlets that made baseless claims labeling him a traitor and an agent of China. The protesters played funeral music and livestreamed the demonstrations to a global audience of up to 100,000 viewers. The harassment included targeting Gao’s wife and physical assaults on a friend of Gao, which resulted in separate assault convictions.

The conflict originated from Gao’s criticism of Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese businessman and convicted fraudster associated with the New Federal State of China project. The court awarded the damages from Yun Fei Zhu, a man who livestreamed the protests and made defamatory claims. Gao stated that the ordeal caused severe distress and led him to consider leaving Canada.