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Southern Metropolis Daily: Deng Yujiao and the Law
Roland Soong of EastSouthWestNorth has translated a December 22nd Southern Metropolis Daily report on Deng Yujiao:
If the lawyers learned the truth from Deng Yujiao and obtained the evidence quietly instead of running crying to the media; if the netizens actually spent the effort trying to supervise the authorities instead of making loud noises only; if the media actually went back to the facts of the story instead of taking on the role of saviors themselves; if the government chose to be frank, fair and transparent instead of blocking and intercepting information … then this very simple criminal case would not have rubbed the nerves of all of China.
It is cruel to drag Deng Yujiao out again. This is a family dormitory building that is at least 10 years old. Even the neighbors don’t know who she is. The stairwell is pasted with small advertising posters. The people here live small and trivial lives. Two nights before Christmas Eve at around 7pm, she opened the door. The light-sensitive lamp illuminated the stairwell.
“I am not Deng Yujiao.” She turned her face towards the wall and used her hair and hand to shield herself like a frightened small animal who is afraid of her own name.
From early summer through the rest of the year, this name represented the completely opposite images of frailty and strength. On the Chinese Internet, it created reverberations.
Finally, she made a silent admission. We walked down two streets as she chatted about her new job where everybody is treating her well. She is living in a television-less room. She has a job. She lives in a new environment. Her life has turned over to a new page. Even her name has been changed. Deng Yujiao said that she was going to pick up her new identity card on this evening.
» Read more
- January 1, 2010 7:23 PM
So, Comrade, Tell Me: Why Did You Censor my Website?
Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei writes in The Guardian about the recent clamping down on Internet sites, including his own:
This year – after a period of relatively relaxed controls – the bodies who censor information and culture have come back with a vengeance. There are several reasons: 2009 has seen a number of “sensitive” anniversaries, including the 4 May student uprisings of 1919, the 1959 Tibetan uprising, and Tiananmen Square in 1989. Although Tibet has been relatively calm this year, the riots in Urumqi in July added greatly to the tense atmosphere in Beijing. Government nervousness about the internet was exacerbated by hype in the western press about Twitter bringing democracy to Iran. Another factor is the financial crisis, which has made mass unrest more likely.
Despite the ongoing and harsh repression of anyone who sets up as a dissident or suggests that the Communist party is illegitimate, there is more anti-establishment chatter on the Chinese internet than ever. China has a new but firmly established culture of citizens using the net to air their grievances with local authorities. This year’s most prominent example was the case of the young female hotel employee Deng Yujiao, where net activism was the decisive factor in saving her from a murder charge, when she was widely believed to have acted in self-defence against an attempted rape. Such cases of online activism have made the government even more wary of the power of the net.
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- October 6, 2009 8:09 PM
They’re Not Going to Take it
Newsweek looks at sexual discrimination in China with the booming sex trade and persistent job discrimination:
In recent years, the government has attempted to tackle the gender problem. Last year, for example, it launched a high-profile campaign against domestic violence, and in 2005 it introduced new laws against sexual harassment, though the definition remains vague.
Perhaps more significantly, some Chinese citizens are taking matters into their own hands. In a number of big cities, women-run nongovernmental organizations now provide training and information to migrants to help them avoid falling into the trap of prostitution. The Internet has also helped Chinese women to organize. “It’s had a big impact in filling in the gaps—you can find information about discrimination,” says Sun. Internet activism has been particularly noticeable in recent months: much of the publicity surrounding the case of the Kunming schoolgirls was generated by the blog posts of Wu Hongfei, a well-known rock singer and journalist. And the truth about Deng Yujiao, the waitress who stabbed a Hubei official to death, was revealed only after Wu Gan, another blogger, visited her in the hospital after her arrest—and found her strapped to a bed. His photos, posted online, helped spark public outrage.
These episodes may be a sign that, as Chinese society becomes more affluent and better educated, concern about the rights of women is increasing. “The young generation who’ve grown up in the cities with a good education have much more of a sense of individual legal rights,” says Jiang of ECNU. Wu, who also tried to help the families involved in the Kunming case, emphasizes, “If society doesn’t provide a fair environment and guarantee legal safeguards, then anyone can become a victim.” That thinking was on full display during the Deng case, when activists in Beijing and Wuhan staged street demonstrations in which bound and gagged women carried placards that asked, who is the next deng yujiao?
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- August 2, 2009 9:08 PM
Diane Wei Liang: A New Tiananmen – but This Time China’s Rebels Are Online
In the Guardian, author Diane Wei Liang writes about the Green Dam software brouhaha, Internet activism, and the 1989 protest movement:
I was a student at Beijing University at the time. My generation and the generation before us had grown up with censorship; there were severe punishments for voicing dissent. My parents were sent to a labour camp during the Cultural Revolution for being intellectuals. When I was 14 years old, I decided that I wanted to become a writer. My mother, who was a professor of Chinese literature, forbade it because writing was one of the most dangerous professions.
The history of modern China has been punctuated by bursts of rebellion followed by bloody crackdown. Throughout the history of the Chinese Communist Party not only has it been dangerous for the protesters, but also the protests have never produced any real impact.
The internet has changed this. The web gave the Chinese people a platform to express their opinions and to have their cases heard, and it is making a difference. The attention given to the case of a young woman working in a public bathhouse in a remote area of China is a good illustration of this.
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- July 3, 2009 7:01 PM
Video: Netizens Fight Corruption in China
From Al Jazeera:
China has long had a reputation for relatively high levels of graft. Almost everyone, including police, local officials, doctors and businessmen, expects and receives bribes.
But netizens are now challenging the way business is done as Al Jazeera’s Melissa Chan reports from Beijing.
» Read more
- June 28, 2009 10:37 AM
Southern Metropolis Daily Interviews Deng Yujiao
Roland Soong of ESWN translates an interview from the Southern Metropolis Daily with Deng Yujiao, the waitress who went on trial for fatally stabbing an official who made sexual advances towards her. Recently, Deng was charged with causing intentional harm, though she ultimately walked free.
Reporter: How are you feeling now?
Deng Yujiao: (nods her head) Okay.
Reporter: Are you satisfied with the trial result?
Deng Yujiao: Hmmm, I am satisfied.
Reporter: Did you expect the result today?
Deng Yujiao: (brief pause) Somewhat unexpected.
Reporter: What was your expected result?
Grandfather: She is a young child who knows nothing about the law. She was not thinking about any result.
Reporter: Are you still taking medicine everyday?
Deng Yujiao: Yes.
Aunt: She is taking anti-depression and sleeping medicine.
» Read more
- June 18, 2009 1:40 PM
Civic-Minded Chinese Find a Voice Online
From New York Times:
The case of Ms. Deng is only the most recent and prominent of several cases in which the Internet has cracked open a channel for citizens to voice mass displeasure with official conduct, demonstrating its potential as a catalyst for social change.
The government’s reactions have raised questions about how much power officials have to control what they call “online mass incidents.” China’s estimated 300 million Internet users, experts say, are awakening to the idea that, even in authoritarian China, they sometimes can fight City Hall.
“It’s about raising the public awareness of democratic ideas — accountability, transparency, citizens’ rights to participate, that the government should serve the people,” said Xiao Qiang, a journalism professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who tracks China’s Internet activity. “Netizens who are now sharing those more democratic values are using these cases, each time making inch-by-inch progress.”
For more English news about Deng Yujiao, please click here.
For more Chinese blogger’s comments on Deng Yujiao’s case, please click here.
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- June 17, 2009 2:53 AM
Deng Yujiao Convicted of “Intentional Harm,” Not Guilty of Murder Charges
Deng Yujiao, the waitress who fatally stabbed a government official after he made sexual advances towards her, went on trial and was charged with causing injury with intent. From Reuters, via Washington Post:
A Chinese waitress who killed a government official when he assaulted her was set free on Tuesday, ending a case that sparked online debate over widespread abuse of power.
Deng Yujiao was originally detained on suspicion of murder but was found guilty of the lesser charge of causing injury with intent, Caijing.com said.
Deng stabbed township official Deng Guida to death at a bathhouse on May 10 in central Hubei province when he assaulted her after she refused to provide “special services” — slang for sex.
[...] But her “mood disorder” limited her criminal responsibility, Caijing said, citing the court decision.
More details, from a report from Caijing. Selectively translated by CDT:
Meanwhile, a report from two evaluating authorities from Hubei Province regarding Deng Yujiao’s mental illness has also come out, with the following conclusion: “Deng Yujiao may have a mood disorder (bipolar), which may have a (limited) contribution to criminal responsibility.”
[...] According to the Chinese criminal code’s related regulations, excessive self-defense allows for “reduction of or removal of punishment.” Further, turning oneself in to the authorities and having partial criminal responsibility also allow for “lighter or reduced punishment.”
In addition, article 19 of China’s criminal lawsuits code stipulates that typically, sentences involving the “possibility of life imprisonment or death sentencing” are held at intermediate-level courts; therefore, lawsuits on matters such as “intentional killings,” “intentional harm,” and other offenses would be tried at intermediate-level courts. However, Deng Yujiao’s first appeared at the grassroots court level.
同时，两家湖北省内权威的鉴定部门对邓玉娇精神病鉴定的报告也已作出，结论为：“邓玉娇为心境障碍（双相），属部分（限定）刑事责任能力。”
[...]　　根据中国《刑法》相关规定，防卫过当属于“应当减轻或者免除处罚”的情节，而自首和部分（限定）刑事责任能力均为“可以从轻或者减轻处罚”的情节。
另据《刑事诉讼法》第19条规定，通常“可能判处无期徒刑、死刑的普通刑事案件”，由中级法院直接一审；所以司法实践中，涉及“故意杀人”“故意伤害”等犯罪的案件原则上一审都公诉到中级法院。但此次邓玉娇案一审法院，则为基层法院。
Read also “Waitress case: it’s China’s legal system that is ‘mentally unsound’, not the girl” from Peter Foster at the Telegraph Blog.
» Read more
- June 16, 2009 12:28 AM
Chinese Web Users Demonstrate Their Strength
From AFP:
Chinese web users are claiming a temporary victory against censorship after taking up the case of a young woman accused of murdering a local official who she says tried to force himself on her.
In what has rapidly become the hottest topic on the Internet, chatroom users and blogs have lionised 22-year-old Deng Yuqiao as a heroine for fighting back against what they say is China’s over-bearing and corrupt bureaucracy.
In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, the web, which is much less rigorously controlled than traditional media, has been abuzz with a different David and Goliath tale.
» Read more
- June 3, 2009 1:03 AM
China Fires Two Officials in Deng Yujiao Sexual-Assault Case
Andrew Browne of the Wall Street Journal writes that two officials connected to the Deng Yujiao case have been fired:
A government notice said a police investigation found that two officials, Huang Dezhi and Deng Guida, from a township investment office, accosted Ms. Deng [Yujiao] in the lounge of the Fantasy City bathhouse and demanded “special services,” a euphemism for sex. When she refused, they pushed her around and insulted her. Ms. Deng picked up a knife, stabbed Mr. Deng to death and injured Mr. Huang, according to the notice, issued on Sunday by the Badong county government in central Hubei province.
Ms. Deng then called a police emergency number using her mobile phone and gave herself up. She initially was arrested on suspicion of murder. However, the notice said police believed it was a case of “excessive self-defense.” Her lawyers have said she was defending herself from a rape attack.
Mr. Huang has been fired from his position as vice director of the investment office and expelled from the Communist Party. He is now under detention. A third official, Deng Zhongjia, who was with the other two at the time but is not alleged to have committed any crime, has also been fired, the notice said. The three Dengs are unrelated.
Roland Soong of ESWN comments on a related Xinhua report:
This is the only piece of news on Deng Yujiao that is allowed to be published. Comments are not being allowed. KDnet briefly ran a poll as to whether the outcome was satisfactory or not, but quickly killed it. Probably that is because the people are not satisfied. Why is that? First, Huang Dezhi is only “being detained in connection with public order offences” instead of “criminal offences such as attempted rape and sexual battery.” The latter are based upon lawyer Xia Lin’s public statement that Deng Yujiao told him that Huang Dezhi had pulled down her trousers, yanked down her panties and fondled her. However, Deng did not say that Huang “raped her.” It was an attempted rape and it was sexual battery. To write that “she claimed that Huang raped her” is to say that she lied. That is why people are not satisfied, but they have no where to express their misgivings.
The big question is, Will the prosecutor really dare to charge Deng Yujiao with “using excessive force”? Or will they just let this matter fade from public memory [but do] nothing?
Read also Ai Weiwei’s take on the penalty, translated by ChinaGeeks.
» Read more
- June 1, 2009 7:53 PM
Are China’s Netizens Calling the Shots?
For the Guardian, journalist Wang Wei writes about the Deng Yujiao case:
Chinese netizens are growing in power, through their powers to expose both individuals and the government. The online community is more aware of the net’s power to influence as well as to inform. In the recent prison death in Yunnan province and in Deng Yujiao’s case, members of online communities actually came forward and effectively took part in the criminal investigations, attempting to replace state media and the police. In Deng Yujiao’s case, netizens interfered in a number of ways, whether legal or not: visiting her in the psychiatric hospital, probing the crime scene, attempting to protect evidence, and publishing personal details of government officials and their families.
One can’t help asking, not whether there will be another Deng Yujiao, but when? A senior official admitted that public servants have become perceived as public enemies. He has every reason to say so, not because every public servant is corrupt and lustful, but because the public’s frustration under non-credible single party rule is ascending to a boiling point.
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- May 30, 2009 9:38 PM
Breaking on Twitter: Thugs Harrass and Detain Deng Yujiao Journalist
From Danwei blog:
This afternoon this statement (image above, in translation below) is all over Twitter and its Chinese clones.
 I am Yang Xiao, a Southern People journalist based in Beijing. My colleague Wei Yi was at Deng Yujiao’s grandmother’s home (at Yesanguanmulongya). When he was interviewing her, men of unknown identity beat him up and took him away (New Century Weekly journalist Kong Pu was present).
To find the many tweets that are passing on this news, do searches for the Chinese characters for Yang on Twitter, Fanfou and Jiwai.de.
Update: I have not been able to find the original tweet from Yang Xiao on Twitter or any of its Chinese clones. If any reader knows the URL of Yang Xiao’s stream, please leave it in the comments.
See also “Deng Yujiao Case Reporters Assaulted” and “Thousands March For Deng Yujiao” from ESWN.
» Read more
- May 28, 2009 8:05 AM
Deng Yujiao (邓玉娇), Who Killed Official Bailed After Online Outcry
“Case of Deng Yujiao, who stabbed to death man she said tried to rape her, puts spotlight on abusive officials.” Tania Branigan reports for the Guardian, from Beijing:
Chinese police have released on bail a woman who became an unwilling hero to tens of thousands of compatriots after stabbing to death an official who she said tried to rape her when she rejected his advances.
The state newspaper China Daily said authorities in Badong, Hubei, released Deng Yujiao last night because she had turned herself in after the killing more than two weeks ago.
But today many bloggers speculated that the decision reflected public pressure. Comments on the killing inundated blogs and bulletin boards, and news of the 21-year-old’s release from custody was widely welcomed.
Deng’s case – and its handling by police – has become emblematic of the struggle of ordinary people against abusive officials.
The message was spelled out in a protest at a Beijing university this week in which a gagged female student bound in sheets was shown with a message reading: “Anyone could become a Deng Yujiao.”
Each twist in the investigation has aroused fresh sympathy for Deng, from the claim that the dead man hit her with a wad of cash when she refused to have sex with him to the allegation that police tried to label her mentally ill and that her mother was pressed to fire her lawyers.
Read also: Killing makes Chinese hostess a symbol of discontent from the Reuters:
A Chinese waitress accused of murdering a government official when he tried to assault her has become the latest symbol of public discontent with untrammelled power, drawing a wave of sympathy for the woman.
More English news stories on Deng Yujiao, please see here and here.
» Read more
- May 27, 2009 7:00 AM
Deng Yujiao Tells Her Story; Protesters Express Support
ESWN translates a Southern Metropolis Daily article in which Deng Yujiao tells what took place on the night she stabbed a local official who attempted to rape her:
Deng Guida then continued to curse: “What do you mean about working here or upstairs? Aren’t you all the same? You are a prostitute but you still want to have a good reputation.” He also said: “Don’t you want money? You have never seen any money! How much money do you want? Just say so. Would you believe if I am going to beat you to death with money today” He took out a wad of money and used it to slap Deng Yujiao in the face and shoulder. At each slap, Deng Yujiao took one step backwards until she was at the edge of the sofa. She said: “Yes, I have never seen money. If you have the guts, you can beat me to death.” Deng Guida said: “Indeed I’ll beat you to death with money. I am going to summon a truckload of money and squash you to death.”
The captain once again advised to leave. Deng Yujiao wanted to leave but she was dragged back. Deng Guida said: “You want to run away? Where are you going to run to?” Deng Yujiao tried once more to leave but she was dragged again. Deng Yujiao took out a fruit knife from her pocketbook and held both hands behind her bad. Deng Guida pushed Deng Yujiao on the chest until she fell down onto the sofa. When Deng Yujiao could not get up, she started kicking with both her feet.
Then Huang Dezhi and Deng Guida both rushed at her. Deng Yujiao took the knife and stabbed in front of her. Deng Guida tried to grab her with both arms. Since Deng Guida was right in front of her, she stabbed her multiple times. Deng Guida then grabbed his stomach, walked towards the door and fell down on the floor. Deng Yujiao saw a knife wound on Deng Guida’s neck, so she called 110 (police). 110 told her to call the Yeshanguan town police station. Deng Yujiao replied: “Someone is dying over at Xiongfeng. Please hurry over.” Then she called her mother and asked her to come over immeidately.
In Beijing, college students staged a work of performance art to express support for Deng Yujiao. The signs around the bound woman read, “Anyone Could Become a Deng Yujiao.”

It has also been reported that 42 female college students have written a statement (倡议书) in response to Deng’s case calling on all of society to protect and respect women’s legal rights and human dignity.
» Read more
- May 25, 2009 9:32 PM
Have You Left No Sense of Decency? How China’s Latest Internet Hero Will Test the Rule of Law
From the Chinaelections.org:
In the seemingly never-ending struggle of the common people vs. the corrupt officials, every once in awhile, there is a case that attracts nationwide attention. In 2003, there was the Sun Zhigang case, while last year protests in Weng’an, Guizhou surrounding the suspicious death of a high school girl attracted widespread attention online, and Yang Jia became famous for killing six police officers in Shanghai.
This year’s unlikely heroine is Deng Yujiao, a 21 year old waitress at an entertainment club in Badong County, Hubei. On Sunday May 10, she became the perpetrator in the stabbing murder of Deng Guida, a township level official, and she also injured his companion and colleague Huang Dezhi. The popular telling of the event starts with the officials Deng and Huang finding Deng Yujiao washing clothes in a service room right next to their leisure room and asking her to provide “special services,” a not so subtle euphemism for sexual services. The three got into an argument when she refused, saying she did not work for the hydrotherapy area. During the argument, Mr. Deng took out a pile of money and hit her with it, questioning, “are you afraid I don’t have enough money?” and pushed her down on to a sofa twice, which is when she took out a pedicure knife and stabbed him repeatedly, also stabbing Huang Dezhi when he moved towards her. However, reports from the official media have been slightly different, as they claim that the knife used in the stabbing was a fruit knife, not a pedicure knife, implying that it is possible that the murder was premeditated, because why would she be carrying a fruit knife? They also don’t mention that Deng Guida hit the young girl with his money. When the police arrested her the next day, they found depression medication in her bag and are currently keeping her in a mental institution[zh].
Also read: Legality Issue in Deng Yujiao’s Case from the Seagull Reference blog:
Twenty one years old Deng Yujiao is a staff in a small town resort in remote eastern Sichuan, until the evening of May 10, 2009. Three local officials, after dined with a local business (treated by the business because they helped to suppress a labor uprising), arrived the place and found Deng washing her clothing in the laundry room. The officials asked Deng to perform ‘Special’ service (sex). Deng refused. Then Deng ran to employee lounge to hide. The officials followed Deng to the lounge. One of the officials used a big stack of money bill to slap Deng Yujiao’s face, and firmly demanded special service as a self-claimed ‘wealthy customer’. Deng tried to run away, but was blocked by the other two officials. The first official lost his patience, and pressed Deng Yujiao to the bed. Deng managed to get away. The first official again pressed Deng Yujiao to the bed. While the second and the third officials pressing Deng Yujiao to the bed, the first official raped Deng. After the first official got off from Deng, Deng managed to grab a pedicure knife she used at work and struck the first official four times. Deng Yujiao called police while fencing the officials with her pedicure knife. After police arrived, the first official fell, and died later.
Shen Zhen Red Song Club, a left-wing Maoist group will dedicate its weekly gathering on May 24 to ‘Heroine Deng Yujiao’. This is one of few moment when left and right in China’s political composition agrees and recognizes a common ground. Outside the political turmoil, people are outraged. The entire online presence of Chinese language are covered with petition to honor Deng Yujiao as a hero.
And China Daily’s Report: Official stabbed to death for ’special service’ request.
Also read “Sympathy for Waitress who Stabbed Official” from CDT.
» Read more
- May 21, 2009 7:16 AM