China’s crackdown on the MeToo movement

Hi and welcome back to the Snapshot Channel. I'm Sonia Briskin. Like and subscribe our channel and click the little bell icon to get the notifications. Now today's topic is the Me Too movement in China. Recent accusations voiced by the top Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has caused an absolute outrage and an international stir. Now what she's done is she's accused one of the top Chinese government officials, in fact he is the former vice president of China. She accused him of sexual assault and one of the most harrowing details that have been recently released is that in fact while the incident was occurring, the vice president's wife stood watch at the door. Peng Shuai is just one of countless women in China who face continuous violence, assault, harassment and belittlement every day. Many of the accused are men high up in the political hierarchy and it is no surprise that the Me Too movement has taken off in China in recent years. Interestingly the China's government is trying to suppress the Me Too movement. So the Me Too movement started in the US around about 2017 and then it really took off in China a little bit later in 2018 when a former student from the Baihang University accused her professor of sexual assault 13 years prior. Now the movement picked up momentum in China with many many women coming forward with harrowing stories of assault and harassment and then allegations started to appear all over social media about abuse and harassment within the university sector and also within the public sector, the media, the entertainment industry as well as the religious sector. Now soon the issue of sexual harassment was a hot topic highly discussed in China. Perhaps the most notable case that was public was that in fact later dismissed by the Chinese courts was that of a screenwriter who accused a famous TV anchor of groping and forcibly trying to kiss her while she was working as an intern at the state broadcaster China Central Television. However none of the cases were as high profile as that of Peng Shui and this is because Peng Shui is an internationally well-known tennis star becoming the first Chinese player to be ranked the world number one in the doubles players by the Women's Tennis Association. On the other hand the man she accuses of sexual harassment Zhang Guoli is of an incredibly high standing within the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. So this is the first time that a member of the government of such high profile has actually been accused of sexual harassment and all of this of course is clashing with the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics due to take place in Beijing and in fact there have already been calls for the games to be boycotted. Peng Shui's cases like adding fuel to fire it really is and it drew much more attention internationally as well as domestically within China. So to make things worse Peng Shui actually vanished literally disappeared after she made accusations on social media. Her posts mind you were entirely deleted within 20 minutes and then nobody heard from her for days and it wasn't until last week that after finally after international pressure she was allowed to connect with the president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bargh via videoconference. However she was not able to yet talk to anybody from the Women's Tennis Association or any other organizations for that matter. It can also be revealed that Thomas Bargh does have a close relationship with the Chinese government as well as the man she's accusing of sexually harassing her. And since Peng Shui case came to light another case involving the Shanghai Public Security Bureau chief came to light. Now he was accused by the Shanghai Public Security Officer of sexually harassing his daughter. His daughter has escaped to Singapore but the officer has since gone missing. Now since the Me Too movement in fact did gain quite a bit of momentum in China it gained a lot of popularity and some positive outcomes have occurred such as finally for the first time getting an actual civil code to define sexual harassment. Now this has never happened in China before. However like with many civil rights movements and grassroots movements in China that gain momentum the authorities are really quick to crack down in fear of losing their power and control. The crackdown intensified this year with the authorities spinning a narrative that the movement in fact is foreign interference because it was started in the US. The words Me Too are highly censored and even the name Peng Shui is currently censored in China and the words tennis as well. And many of the women's rights activists have been arrested. Their social media accounts have been closed. Some have never been heard from again including people who have publicly supported victims and have spoken out. The Chinese authorities also utilized social media influences to attack and publicly smear a number of women's rights activists and platforms such as Weibao which is one of the main social media platforms in China. And all these activists and rights supporters are essentially accused of being supporters of foreign influences or foreign forces. And these are usual labels that are used by the Chinese government on various movements in China including the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and people who have protested against the crackdown of Falun Gong or the Uyghurs. However despite the pressure to shut down the campaign in China it might just be a little bit too late. The movement has the floodgates to a taboo subject in Chinese society and will possibly continue to gain momentum inspiring more and more women to speak out about harassment and other inequality issues that are faced by women in China today. What do you think about the Me Too movement in China? Like and subscribe our channel, leave us a comment and till next time speak to you soon.