China Fails to Protect Women, Ignores Women’s Rights

In January, a video surfaced of a woman chained up in a shack in Fengxian County, Jiangsu Province, China. Her inhuman experience of being abducted, trafficked, and raped repeatedly while bearing eight children caused shock across China’s heavily censored Internet. After the woman’s story was made public, the local government issued five contradictory statements, quickly sealed off the village, silenced comments, and arrested netizens who tried to pursue the truth. To this day, questions about where she came from and whether she is now free remain unanswered. Yet it is an open secret that thousands of women are trafficked and forced into sexual slavery in China every year. Concern among Chinese citizens about the woman’s plight was quickly suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine and the prolonged lockdown of Shanghai have also diverted attention from the matter.

Five months later, however, another horrifying assault became a matter of intense public scrutiny. In June, four women in Hebei Province’s Tangshan City were severely injured after resisting sexual harassment by a man at a barbecue restaurant. The women were brutally beaten by the man along with several of his colleagues. The incident challenges the Chinese government’s propaganda claims of “good law and order” and has sparked heated discussions about sexual violence in China and the differing treatment of men and women.

About the Author

Jianli Yang

Jianli Yang is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Center for the National Interest and a columnist for National Review.

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About the Author

Xueli Wang

Xueli Wang, an independent scholar, is the managing director of CSI Research and a co-author of Made in China — Marken und Produktpiraterie.

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In January, a video surfaced of a woman chained up in a shack in Fengxian County, Jiangsu Province, China. Her inhuman experience of being abducted, trafficked, and raped repeatedly while bearing eight children caused shock across China’s heavily censored Internet. After the woman’s story was made public, the local government issued five contradictory statements, quickly sealed off the village, silenced comments, and arrested netizens who tried to pursue the truth. To this day, questions about where she came from and whether she is now free remain unanswered. Yet it is an open secret that thousands of women are trafficked and forced into sexual slavery in China every year. Concern among Chinese citizens about the woman’s plight was quickly suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine and the prolonged lockdown of Shanghai have also diverted attention from the matter.

Five months later, however, another horrifying assault became a matter of intense public scrutiny. In June, four women in Hebei Province’s Tangshan City were severely injured after resisting sexual harassment by a man at a barbecue restaurant. The women were brutally beaten by the man along with several of his colleagues. The incident challenges the Chinese government’s propaganda claims of “good law and order” and has sparked heated discussions about sexual violence in China and the differing treatment of men and women.