YouTuber Wanli Zhu wins $150k defamation case after leaflets distributed claiming she’s a spy

Wanli Zhu was active on YouTube and critical of the Chinese government in her videos. Photo / Supplied

A political commentator and YouTuber has been awarded $150,000 in damages after a man claimed she was a Chinese spy and handed out leaflets with her name and address on them.

The man also organised a protest outside her family home in what was a nine-month “campaign of abuse” that culminated in her having to sell up and move.

Wanli Zhu is a self-described dissident and open critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and runs a YouTube channel focusing on criticising the Chinese Government. She has over 22,000 subscribers with videos that have been viewed a combined 5 million times.

However, a self-employed business owner, Zhen Chen, took exception to her videos and orchestrated a campaign against her, claiming that she worked for the CCP, accepted money from them, was a spy and was a threat to the safety and citizens of New Zealand.

Zhu then sued Chen for defamation after her YouTube channel lost followers, and her friends and supporters abandoned her as a result of his continued defamation.

Chen did not engage with the High Court at Auckland and did not attend a hearing in February where Zhu gave submissions with the aid of an interpreter.

She told the court Chen’s campaign against her began after posting a video about a Chinese business tycoon and now-convicted fraudster in September 2020.

Following that video, Zhu claimed Chen embarked on a nine-month campaign of defamation and bullying against her.

As part of that campaign, Chen posted a video of himself and associates standing outside Zhu’s daughter’s house.

Chen then livestreamed comments directed at Zhu saying: “I will definitely make you and your family suffer until you doubt your life.”

In other videos broadcast online, Chen claimed Zhu was working for the CCP, was a spy, a thief, and had taken money from the Chinese Government.

He also handed out leaflets near Zhu’s house to the same effect and put them in letterboxes around Hamilton. A further drop of pamphlets included Zhu’s home address.

Chen organised a protest to take place outside Zhu’s house, which she said caused distress to herself and her family.

In 2021, Chen ordered a mass brochure delivery in Auckland that was posted into residential mailboxes throughout the city, again making claims Zhu was a spy and in the pay of the CCP.

Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith said it was clear Zhu had spent her life actively criticising the CCP and Chen had claimed this was essentially a front.

“The statements were designed to undermine Ms Zhu’s reputation in her own community.

“Members of her community stopped speaking to her, and it is understandable that she would have been the subject of suspicion and perhaps fear.

“Essentially, the statements sought to undo what has been Ms Zhu’s life’s work.”

In a recently released ruling, Justice Wilkinson-Smith found Chen had made defamatory statements about Zhu on nine occasions and ordered that he pay $150,000 in damages.

“I accept that the effect on Ms Zhu was significant and there were real financial consequences. Ms Zhu sold her house as a direct result of the actions of the first defendant. Her work as a YouTube influencer was negatively affected.

“It is clear that some people believed the defamatory allegations, or at least thought they could have been true. Ms Zhu’s reputation and standing in her community and that of her family were adversely affected.”