Guo Wengui is a fugitive from China who fled to the US in 2014 claiming political persecution.
He made his billions in property development in China, and in America runs media streaming platforms online.
Together with Steve Bannon, Mr Guo launched an aggressive anti-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) movement called the New Federal State of China in June this year, with branches in countries like the US, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
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This group, which started out with 18 members, discussed how to orchestrate viral media campaigns against the CCP.
“We’re talking about how we would promote the information that Guo was leaking out, how we spread that information to the world. No matter [if it was] true or false,” said Mr Pan.
Mr Pan says Mr Guo would usually share with the group “new information” about corruption in China and ask them to spread it across their networks.
Another one of Guo’s favourite topics according to Pan, was outing Chinese individuals as “CCP spies”.
For example, Mr Pan says Mr Guo instructed the group to out a Chinese woman and US resident as a CCP agent. There was no credible evidence to support Mr Guo’s allegations.
Leaked audio from the core group’s meetings also shows Mr Guo once encouraged his key followers during the Hong Kong democracy protests in 2019 to spread a rumour that martial law was imminent in the territory.
“The martial law command will impose massive restrictions on the movement of people in and out of Hong Kong … They will also clean up US and European institutions based in Hong Kong and foreigners with US and British passports,” Mr Guo shared from a document he claimed to receive from a “reliable informant within the CCP”.
As Mr Pan’s videos’ popularity skyrocketed, with some posts attracting tens of thousands of views, he also impressed the NY-based billionaire and Mr Bannon.
In a private message to Mr Pan, Mr Guo filmed Mr Bannon praising him and his show, and expressed his wish to make him a hero.
“I look forward to being on your show very shortly,” Mr Bannon said to Mr Pan.
“I would love to host him when he comes, bring him to Washington and have him give a speech and make sure there is a big audience … You guys are really the heroes,” Mr Bannon turned and told Mr Guo.
After witnessing the movement’s dangerous tactics, Mr Pan became uncomfortable with its direction.
In late 2019, he decided to branch out and create his own charity to fight for human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang province.
A few days after having a conversation about it with Mr Guo, Mr Guo told his 1.4 million followers in his online broadcasts that Mr Pan was a “CCP spy”, and urged them to attack him.
“He started calling me a fraud and a scam. A Chinese government spy. I should deserve to die,” said Mr Pan.
“I can’t sleep. I’m quite shocked. I had a panic attack.”
On October 8 this year, a group of the online harassers picketed outside his house in Brisbane, waving flags and banners of the New Federal State of China and chanting slogans: “Kick the CCP agent out of Australia.”
This incident frightened Mr Pan, who said his “whole body” was shaking.
The protesters have openly broadcast on social media they will return.
As recently as October 9, Mr Guo’s organiser in Sydney published a call-out to Mr Guo’s Australian followers to travel to Brisbane where Mr Pan lives, once the Queensland border restrictions are lifted, and “carry out the campaign to eliminate the traitor to the end”.