Since Zhou Xiaoxuan came forward in 2018, activists across China and the globe have protests against pervasive sexual harassment in the country. Photo courtesy of Ravenpuff92 via WikiMedia Commons.
Sophie Frank ’26
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article discusses sexual assault.
On Oct. 1, 2022, a settlement was announced in a sexual assault case that The New York Times called “a landmark episode in China’s struggling #MeToo movement.” The case followed a former college student at the University of Minnesota, Liu Jingyao, who accused Richard Liu — a billionaire entrepreneur — of sexually assaulting her in 2018. The two share no familial relation. In official reports, Liu Jingyao said she attended a dinner hosted to celebrate a volunteer effort she had been part of at the university that year. After the dinner, Mr. Liu escorted her back to her apartment, came inside “uninvited” and assaulted her after a “‘prolonged struggle.’”
According to The New York Times, Liu Jingyao — further referred to as “Liu” — is not the first person to accuse a prominent Chinese businessman of sexual assault. For example, Zhou Xiaoxuan is credited by the publication as becoming “the face of China’s #MeToo movement” after coming forward about being assaulted in 2014 by a TV anchor when she was an intern.
The #MeToo movement has a notable presence in China. After the hashtag #MeToo became well known in the United States, women in China began tagging their stories using the hashtag #RiceBunny, and the bowl of rice and the bunny emojis, as reported by The Conversation. In Chinese, this is pronounced “mi tu,” and allows social media users to get around censorship laws. However, more direct hashtags such as #MeTooInChina have also been used.
Despite the activist efforts of women such as Xiaoxuan before her, Liu was subjected to a widespread online public shaming campaign following the allegations, The New York Times reported. Social media users described Liu using vulgar, gender-based terms, with many insisting that she was lying about her assault. The New York Times attributed this partly to the fact that the #MeToo movement was beginning to lose momentum when Liu came forward. Men accused of sexual violence were beginning to fight back legally, some even suing their accusers for defamation.
This is a phenomenon that Kevin Henderson, a feminist scholar and visiting instructor in politics, also observed. In an interview with Mount Holyoke News, Henderson discussed this through the lens of colleges in the United States. “Many colleges have been sued for not respecting the rights of the accused,” he said. This leads “women and others who have experienced … sexual assault [to] doubly feel like justice hasn’t been served, because they chose this extrajudicial route, only to see their rapists get money in a lawsuit.”
Another possible explanation for the campaign against Liu can be found in cultural norms. Aysha Baqir ’95, a Mount Holyoke College alum and author of “Beyond the Fields,” discussed this idea in an article for the College’s Alumnae Association. Baqir wrote, “In many Asian communities, … patriarchal … norms prioritized family honor over individual wellbeing. Why would a survivor risk speaking out … if she feared being blamed and shamed by her own family and community?” The New York Times explained that Liu’s case came as a “challenge to rape culture” in China, inspiring hashtags like #NoPerfectVictim which protested the public shaming of survivors and created online spaces for women to speak of their experiences of sexual assault.
CNBC reported that the details of the settlement have not yet been disclosed, but shared a statement by representatives for both parties, which reads, “The incident … resulted in a misunderstanding that has consumed substantial public attention and brought profound suffering to the parties and their families.”
Henderson also described the politics of the #MeToo movement, stating, “There was kind of a reckoning [surrounding] who had started #MeToo,” as well as discussion surrounding “its promises and limitations.” According to Vogue, there is a well-known image of successful white women in the American film industry bringing down powerful executives. Then, there’s the version of the story that includes the activist Tarana Burke, who coined the phrase “me too” in the context of sexual violence, and focuses her activist work on the experiences of women of color, NPR reported.
Sandra Russell, a visiting lecturer in gender studies at the College, explained in an interview with Mount Holyoke News that “months before #MeToo took off on Twitter in the U.S. in [2017], Ukraine had its own “#MeToo” movement started by journalist and activist Anastasiya Melnychenko who used the hashtag [#ImNotAfraidToSayIt].” Russell explained, “The biggest shift, which I don’t think is unique to Ukraine, is the way that #MeToo brought conversations around rape, sexual violence and domestic violence to a more visible, accessible public sphere. This has allowed people to build stronger networks and coalitions against these systemic problems.”
Considering the legal and sociopolitical side of sexual assault proceedings, Henderson said that there have been “unexpected consequences of these massive policy changes that have happened … in response to the last two decades of radical cultural activism, but particularly #MeToo.” He sympathized with the “conflicting messages” and “lack of clarity” relating to the “necessity of addressing sexual harm.” This was supported by The New York Times, who said Liu’s case, the #MeToo movement and protest movements such as #NoPerfectVictim are allowing people in China to “[question] widely held ideas about rape culture and consent.” The story has already proved to be a catalyst for wider conversations surrounding rape culture in China.