'My son doesn't recognise me': Survivor of Chinese pro-democracy car crash speaks

The wreckage of the car driven by Yu Hongming after it was hit by an oncoming vehicle that crossed the centre line. Photo / John Van der Ven

Yu Hongming has no memory of the crash that killed two of his friends but plenty of painful memories from the two years since.

Yu had been driving to Wellington in July 2020 with friends Weiguo Xi and Yuezhong Wang to petition the Government about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in New Zealand, when they were hit by an oncoming car.

Xi and Wang, both aged 48, died in the crash at Tokoroa, while Yu - also known as Freeman - spent weeks in intensive care and has still not recovered from his injuries two years later.

While he can now walk slowly, he still has trouble speaking and works with a speech therapist.

His family have also been heavily impacted.

Yu said his 14-year-old son finds it hard to recognise the injured man as the same father from before the crash.

"My 14-year-old son often gets angry at me," Yu told the Herald.

"I used to get angry too, but now I understand. He's traumatised."

The 2020 crash also shook up the Chinese dissident community.

Yu, Xi and Wang had been outspoken in their belief the CCP was clandestinely interfering in New Zealand elections, churches, businesses, universities, schools and non-profit groups.

China expert and Canterbury University professor Anne-Marie Brady described the trio as brave and "hugely influential members of the New Zealand Chinese community".

The fact the men died while driving from Auckland to Parliament in Wellington to raise concerns about the CCP sparked initial fears of sabotage or foul play.

But a coroner's report released today found the crash was instead caused by a tragic mistake by Siobhan Chettleburgh.

Chettleburgh had been driving north along State Highway 1 in a Holden Colorado with her 17-year-old daughter at about 1pm on July 21, 2020.

The car driven by Siobhan Chettleburgh, which collided with a car carrying three prominent Chinese pro-democracy activists. Photo / John Van der Ven

However, while following a "moderate left bend" in the road, she crossed over the centre line.

In doing so, Chettleburgh sideswiped the right side of an oncoming light-Mercedes truck, before then slamming into the left side of the Toyota Prius driven by Yu, with Xi in the front passenger seat and Wang in the rear.

Chettleburgh's ute then spun into a ditch with its bonnet completely smashed, while Yu's Toyota was thrown onto its roof.

A nearby farmer, who rushed to the scene and put out a fire in the Toyota, checked Wang in the back of the vehicle but couldn't find a pulse.

"I also checked the person who was in the left front passenger seat [Xi], they were breathing, and moaning and his eyes were flickering. I was not able to get a response from them," the man told the coroner.

Xi and Wang subsequently died at the scene.

Yu was taken to Waikato Hospital with serious head and neck injuries where he remained in intensive care for weeks before being transferred to Auckland Hospital.

Chettleburgh suffered moderate injuries but her daughter was seriously hurt, with both being taken to Waikato Hospital.

Police investigators said Chettleburgh may have been distracted by using the internet on her phone at the time of the crash or may have been fatigued.

In March 2021, she was found guilty of two charges of careless driving causing death and sentenced to community work, reparation and disqualification from driving.

Brady, the Canterbury University professor, told the Herald not long after the crash that it was "a terrible tragedy" and Xi and Wang's deaths were a "huge loss to civil society in our New Zealand Chinese community".

"These people are so important and brave. They stand up for the silent majority and the New Zealand Chinese community," Brady said.

Chen Weijian, a fellow campaigner and the publisher of dissident newspaper Beijing Spring, told media outlet Newsroom the loss to New Zealand's Chinese-democracy community was "unbearable".

He said Xi was a former People's Liberation Army member who opposed corruption in China and became an organiser and leader of democratic movements when he moved to New Zealand.

Wang worked as an engineer in China where he participated in democratic activities before fleeing to New Zealand, Chen said.

Yu meanwhile had twice appeared in front of Parliament's Justice Select Committee to give evidence for its enquiries into foreign interference and had become active talking to mainstream English language media to voice concerns about CCP activities, Newsroom reported.

Yu told the Herald his shoulder was fractured, his stomach "torn open" and that he suffered brain damage from the accident.

"From what I can tell, the chance of a full recovery from my injuries is one per cent," he said.

So he now focused his energy on doing what he loves.

That included getting back into online activism through his group the New Zealand Values Alliance, and regular tweets.

He remained convinced many New Zealanders primarily viewed China as a rich trading partner and were naive to the ways the CCP could interfere in local society.

Yet Yu also has also had to focus on his family.

While he had been to counselling to deal with the trauma of the accident and found it helpful, he said his wife and children were yet to go, and continued to battle with the emotional toll.