In recent years, the Chinese government has intentionally increased its efforts to foster a sense of extreme nationalism among the younger generation. After studying abroad, these brainwashed patriotic youths have transformed into “war wolves,” promoting the official Chinese narrative while attacking dissidents. Liu Tianyu, a Chinese student studying at the University of Buffalo, is an anomaly. He likes to think independently and has been attacked by “pinkies” and even threatened with death after posting pictures on WeChat in support of the Hong Kong protests. Liu Tianyu was interviewed by our reporter Han Jie on the 1st, telling his experience of “fighting” the “pinkies” and defending freedom of expression.
A picture of Liu Tianyu posted in his circle of friends in support of the Hong Kong protest movement. (Courtesy of Liu Tianyu)
Reporter: Hi Tianyu, can you tell us about the incident first?
Liu Tianyu: In early October 2019, I published a picture in my WeChat circle of friends in support of the Hong Kong protest movement. By November 20, I don’t know which students found it and in what way it was spread, I received hundreds of abusive and threatening messages in the WeChat group (the official WeChat group of the University of Buffalo Chinese Students and Scholars Association). The most serious were two people who made death threats against me. One person said, Kill you in three days and raise your ashes to you. Another person said, you have to watch your identity when you talk, and then sent a video of licking a knife, saying I’m going to get you killed. I contacted our school’s international student services office that day, and then they called the police. I went to the police station the next day to make a statement.
Reporter: Usually people would choose to remain silent when they encounter this kind of situation. What drove you to take legal action?
Liu Tianyu: Three intentions flashed through my mind at that Time. One is silence, hiding; another is to scold back; the third way is to use the legal way to solve. I am now in the United States, still relatively safe, slightly away from the persecution of the system. If we are afraid to speak up, then those who are at Home will be even less able to speak up, and the whole society will be even more silent. I have this obligation to express this matter, so I don’t want to be silent, and I don’t want to fight against them. This is not only for myself, but also for the world. Nowadays, people in China often say that Hong Kong people are thugs and those who support Hong Kong are also thugs, so we have to leave this matter to the people of the world to see who are the thugs? Who are the peaceful petitioners?
Reporter: Did you feel scared after experiencing the large number of people verbally abusing and even threatening you? What kind of disturbance did the incident cause to you?
Liu Tianyu: This incident has had a big impact on my Life. Why were the pictures I posted in my circle of friends exposed? I suspect that someone in the official WeChat group of the University of Buffalo Chinese Students and Scholars Association (UBSA) was monitoring the comments of other students in the group, clicking on each of their friends, looking at what they were saying, and observing their thoughts and movements.
It was definitely scary, but more than that, I was surprised. I didn’t expect these people to be able to say such things, and I don’t know any of these people. To risk the world by making death threats against me just because of some difference of opinion, because of a word I said. I didn’t think these students could be this crazy now.
Reporter: After the school called the police, what was the outcome of the incident?
Liu Tianyu was verbally abused and threatened in the official WeChat group of the University of Buffalo Chinese Students and Scholars Association. (Courtesy of Liu Tianyu)
Tianyu Liu: The police were reported to the police on November 20, 2019, and the police completed their investigation at the end of March last year, and they didn’t think it was to the extent that they needed to press charges, and then they referred the matter to the university’s Student Conduct and Advocacy office to handle it. They issued a sanction by the end of the spring semester last year. Then in January of this year, (the director of Student Conduct and Advocacy) sent me a notice of sanctions (for the person involved).
Reporter: Did you feel disappointed that the school did not seem to be as severe as you would have liked?
Liu Tianyu: My request was to suspend the (most serious) person involved, but the school gave me the reason that for the first offense and no violent harm, the maximum is to give a detention. Since the school gave me a reasonable excuse, I accepted it. I am grateful to the teachers and the staff of the student office for taking care of me in many ways. I feel that American society is really good.
Reporter: Do you want to hold the other students who insulted you responsible?
Tianyu Liu: This matter involves at least hundreds of people. I mean to give very serious disciplinary actions only to the most serious people, and the others can be left alone for the time being if there are no particularly serious things. They are all brainwashed, both poor and hateful. I still hope to be able to educate them on probation and give them a warning. After all, I was born and raised in the mainland for 30 years, I have feelings for the mainland and my compatriots, and I hope that my country and the people around me can walk on a right path.
Reporter: Your encounter reminds me of the incident of Duke University student Wang Qianyuan. From your observation, why do “pinkies” become more and more violent?
Liu Tianyu: The difference between the mindset of the pinkos and the mindset of educated people in civilized countries is that they don’t say you have the right to express yourself, I have the right to express myself, we put things out there for others to see and fully enjoy the freedom of speech given to us by the U.S. Constitution. They are I won’t let you talk, I’m going to seal your mouth shut. The key thing is the (Chinese) system of Education. A lot of people’s speech is suppressed in the country, and they bring that to the United States.
I am opposed to all violence, including the violence that authoritarian power inflicts on the people. The suppression of peaceful petitions and the stifling of freedom of speech is what I hate the most. The reason why I post pictures (of support for the Hong Kong protest) in my circle of friends is firstly, I hope people will pay attention to this issue. Secondly, I also welcome people to discuss with me, not death threats or insults, even if we have different views, we can sit down and talk and fully communicate.
Liu Tianyu was verbally abused and threatened in the official WeChat group of the University of Buffalo Chinese Students and Scholars Association. (Courtesy of Tianyu Liu)
Reporter: Do you think the “pinkies” will learn from their mistakes and grow wiser?
Liu Tianyu: It’s hard to say. It’s possible that after this incident, this year’s class of students will be restrained, but every year, many domestic students go to the University of Buffalo, and they receive that kind of (brainwashing) education in China, and if the domestic system does not change, I’m not very optimistic. This is not an isolated phenomenon, so what should I do when I encounter something like this? What can be done to protect yourself? As far as I know, no one has really used the law or the unit regulation system to punish these people. So I hope to tell you that you can use the law to protect yourself. The law in the United States supports freedom of speech and does not approve of violence, incitement to violence, and harm to others or threats of harm to others. If some students who have not been completely brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party go abroad and are willing to express their opinions and are ostracized and threatened by their classmates, they can use this method to protect themselves. This is the reason why I want to tell what happened to me. I think all the words I say stand the test of time, the test of history; they stand up to the sky, the earth and the conscience.
Reporter: Thank you for giving me this interview.
Our reporter attempted to contact the University at Buffalo Student Conduct and Advocacy Office and the University Police, but had not received an official response by press time. We will continue to follow up with updates once a response is available.
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