A Chinese Journalist Gave #MeToo Victims a Voice. Now She’s on Trial.

After two years in detention, a Chinese journalist who spoke up against sexual harassment stood trial on subversion charges on Friday along with a labor rights activist, the latest example of Beijing’s intensified crackdown on civil society. Huang Xueqin, an independent journalist who was once a prominent voice in China’s #MeToo movement, and her friend Wang Jianbing, the activist, were taken away by the police in September 2021 and later charged with inciting subversion of state power. Their trial was held at the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court in southern China.…

Taiwan’s ruling party rocked by sexual harassment claims

Taiwan’s ruling party has been rocked by a wave of sexual harassment allegations, as the country grapples with a #MeToo movement that has encompassed politics and the media. On Tuesday, President Tsai Ing-wen apologised for the second time in a week in response to sexual harassment claims against senior staff in the Democratic Progressive party (DPP). “Our society as a whole must educate ourselves again. People in sexual harassment incidents are victims,” she wrote in a Facebook post. Hours earlier, Tsai’s national policy adviser Yan Chih-fa resigned after being accused…

Professor accused of sexually assaulting teenager as China’s #metoo movement struggles forward

Followers of China’s struggling #MeToo movement have been gripped by a series of recent allegations, including against a professor at a high-profile university, which went viral online and been reported by state media. The professor at China’s largest public university, has been suspended after being accused of the historical sexual assault of a then-16-year-old girl. The case, which has been reported by multiple state media outlets, is the most recent in a #MeToo movement which is often hampered by censorship and crackdowns on activists. It comes just weeks after allegations…

Canadian Singer Kris Wu Sentenced to Prison for Rape in China

Kris Wu, a Canadian Chinese pop singer who was once one of China’s most popular entertainers, was found guilty of rape by a Beijing court and sentenced to 13 years in prison on Friday, becoming one of the most prominent figures in the country to be punished for #MeToo allegations. In a statement on social media the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing said Mr. Wu was convicted of taking advantage of three drunken women and forcibly having sex with them at his home in 2020. He was also found…

High-profile China #MeToo case settled in US out of court

One of China’s biggest and most divisive #MeToo cases, which had been set to play out with extraordinary transparency because of its US location and was closely watched by millions inside China, has been settled out of court. Liu Qiangdong, a 49-year-old online retail billionaire who also goes by Richard Liu and is known as China’s Jeff Bezos, had been accused of sexually assaulting a then 21-year-old Chinese graduate when she was studying at the University of Minnesota and he was visiting on a business trip. Liu has always denied…

Chinese #MeToo Case Settled in U.S. Court

The Chinese billionaire entrepreneur Richard Liu has reached a settlement with Liu Jingyao, a former University of Minnesota student who accused him of rape in a Minneapolis apartment after a night out in 2018, in a case that has riveted China and been held up as a landmark episode in China’s struggling #MeToo movement. The agreement, which was announced in a joint statement late Saturday, came just two days before a civil trial was to begin in a Minneapolis courtroom. Lawyers from both parties said Mr. Liu and Ms. Liu,…

Chinese police detain ‘godfather of film industry’ over abuse claims

Chinese police have detained a man over the alleged abuse of at least 19 former students at a prestigious tutoring academy, after a viral article outlined one of the country’s most shocking #MeToo cases in years. Du Yingzhe, 40, was a well-known tutor at Shadow Road, which assists high school students to get into the country’s best art and film schools. On Monday Du was accused by a former student of harassing, grooming and raping students, including some who were underage and a 17-year-old girl who fell pregnant. In a…

Battling Violence and Censors, Women in China Become ‘Invisible and Absent’

HONG KONG — When a prominent woman in China’s #MeToo movement took on a powerful man in court, it was the accused, not the accuser, who was held up as the victim. When several women were savagely beaten by men after resisting unwanted advances in a restaurant, the focus of the story pivoted from gender violence to gang violence. And when a mother of eight was found chained to the wall of a doorless shack, it was her mental fitness — not her imprisonment — that became the talking point.…

Woman at centre of China #MeToo case vows not to give up after appeal rejected

The woman at the centre of a landmark case in China’s #MeToo movement has vowed not to give up after a court rejected her appeal for an apology and damages. In 2018 Zhou Xiaoxuan accused a high-profile state TV presenter, Zhu Jun, of forcibly kissing and groping her during a 2014 internship. The case inspired many others to share their experiences of sexual assault and caused a social media storm. On Wednesday the court in Beijing ruled after a closed-door hearing that evidence submitted by the 29-year-old was “insufficient” in…

China Moves to Overhaul Protections for Women’s Rights, Sort Of

The announcement was presented — in official news reports, on social media — as a major victory for Chinese women. The government was set to overhaul its law governing women’s rights for the first time in decades, to refine the definition of sexual harassment, affirm prohibitions on workplace discrimination and ban forms of emotional abuse. For many women in China, the response was: Hm, really? The proposed revisions are the latest in a series of conflicting messages by the Chinese government about the country’s growing feminist movement. On paper, the…