ORLANDO, Fla.—Yu Miao built Shanghai’s Jifeng Bookstore into a bastion of liberal thought, until it became a prime target in Chinese leader Xi Jinping‘s assault on free speech.

Chinese displeasure with Mr. Yu has followed him to Florida, where he moved his family after authorities effectively forced the bookshop out of business in 2018. Now, even in the U.S., the 50-year-old Mr. Yu is facing consequences of his gambit to push against the limits of Chinese censorship.