China has arrested nine men after video footage of a vicious attack on a group of female diners at a barbecue restaurant sparked outrage and debate on women’s rights on social media.
The attack took place early on Friday in the city of Tangshan, Xinhua news agency reported.
The suspects were arrested on Saturday after a search that spanned two provinces.
Photo: Screen grab from surveillance footage obtained by Reuters
A Tangshan city official vowed to “severely punish” those involved, the report added.
Security footage of the incident shows a man approaching a table of three female diners and putting his hand on one woman’s back. When she resists his advances, the man attacks her and a friend, and several other men pile in. The woman is later dragged outside by her hair, where the men repeatedly beat and kick her as she lays on the ground.
The graphic video was widely shared online in China over the weekend, with the attack still trending on Sina Weibo yesterday morning. Many posters were women sharing their experiences with male aggression.
One woman demanded an apology from a man she said harassed her on a beach late last year.
“Since then, I no longer dare to leave home alone at night,” she wrote, in a post that received more than 1 million likes.
Two members of girl band CKG48 shared a video of being forced to accept a drink from a man, despite repeated polite refusals. That topic was viewed more than 26 million times.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government has suppressed the country’s nascent #MeToo movement, viewing it as a vehicle for spreading liberal Western values.
As a result, women who have braved China’s patriarchal culture, which often shames victims of sexual assault, have over the past few years been silenced.
Tennis star Peng Shuai (彭帥) last year disappeared from public view for weeks after making allegations of sexual harassment by former Chinese vice president Zhang Gaoli (張高麗).
China Daily dismissed the idea that the Tangshan attack exposed any problem with women’s rights in China in a commentary on Sunday.
“The case is nine males using violence against three females, but it should never be interpreted as any form of sexual antagonism,” the newspaper said.
Liang Xiaowen (梁曉文), a New York-based feminist and lawyer, said that by denying this incident was gender-based violence, Chinese authorities were trying to avoid addressing a problem in society.
“I think women’s voices in the current Chinese society are one of the strongest and loudest, outspoken voices that are constantly challenging the existing system,” Liang said. “That’s why the Chinese government is trying everything they can to try to marginalize women’s voices, or dissenting feminist ideas, and trying to stigmatize feminism as a whole.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese